NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday condemned the Bombay high court verdict acquitting all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, calling it “very shocking” and stating that the state government would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
“The verdict of the Bombay high court is very shocking, and we will challenge it in the Supreme Court,” Fadnavis told reporters.
Earlier in the day, a special bench of the Bombay high court set aside the 2015 judgment of a special MCOCA court, which had convicted the 12 accused, including five who had been sentenced to death. The high court said the prosecution had “utterly failed” to prove its case.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also reacted to the verdict, saying, “This is very sad. Instead of confirming the death penalty, they have been acquitted. This shows that the case presented was not foolproof, it had loopholes. I believe this is the fault of the state government. The state government did not take it seriously or present a strong argument, which is why this decision has come... I hope that Maharashtra's home minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the chief minister, will challenge this court verdict.”
Also read: 2006 Mumbai train blasts: Bombay HC acquits all 12 accused; says prosecution utterly failed to prove case against them
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya expressed concern over the acquittals. “In these 19 years, several family members of the victims have died, some migrated, others forgot about it. But this is a huge jolt, after 19 years, it’s now being said that nothing happened. An incident did take place; it was expected that the judiciary would pronounce a punishment. But they were pronounced innocent. Does this mean there was fraud in the lower court? Or were there issues in the 2006 investigation? Top legal experts will now present the case before the Supreme Court, and justice will be served.”
The high court, in its 671-page judgment, observed that the prosecution had failed to establish the type of explosive used, and found the confessional statements inadmissible due to allegations of torture. The court also noted irregularities in the identification parade and found several prosecution witnesses unreliable.
The judgment began with a critical observation, “Punishing the actual perpetrator of a crime is a concrete and essential step toward curbing criminal activities, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring the safety and security of citizens. But creating a false appearance of having solved a case, by presenting that the accused have been brought to justice, gives a misleading sense of resolution. This deceptive closure undermines public trust and falsely reassures society, while in reality, the true threat remains at large. Essentially, this is what the case at hand conveys.”
The case involved seven blasts on Mumbai suburban trains during peak evening hours on July 11, 2006, which killed 189 people and injured over 800. The trial court had relied heavily on confessions recorded under MCOCA provisions. The High Court found these confessions lacked credibility and raised serious doubts about the entire investigation and trial process.
Meanwhile, defence advocate Tahera Qureshi, who represented one of the accused, said, “We are very happy with today's decision because we have been waiting for this for 19 years, especially after the sentence was imposed and four to five people received death sentences. I represent Zamir Sheikh, one of the accused. He was sentenced to life imprisonment based on the belief that he knew the incident was going to happen. He allegedly went abroad for training and later returned to India, where he was accused of participating in reconnaissance. When my client was arrested, he was just 25-26 years old and came from a middle-class family. He was falsely implicated in this case.”
'Prosecution failed to establish type of bomb used'
What the court observed-
“The verdict of the Bombay high court is very shocking, and we will challenge it in the Supreme Court,” Fadnavis told reporters.
Earlier in the day, a special bench of the Bombay high court set aside the 2015 judgment of a special MCOCA court, which had convicted the 12 accused, including five who had been sentenced to death. The high court said the prosecution had “utterly failed” to prove its case.
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Bombay High Court acquitting all 12 people in relation to 2006 Mumbai train bombings, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says, "The verdict of the Bombay High Court is very shocking and we will challenge it in the Supreme Court." pic.twitter.com/N9aQJMvW9y
— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2025
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also reacted to the verdict, saying, “This is very sad. Instead of confirming the death penalty, they have been acquitted. This shows that the case presented was not foolproof, it had loopholes. I believe this is the fault of the state government. The state government did not take it seriously or present a strong argument, which is why this decision has come... I hope that Maharashtra's home minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the chief minister, will challenge this court verdict.”
#WATCH | 2006 Mumbai Train Blasts: Bombay High Court acquits all 12 accused.
— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2025
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "This is very sad, instead of giving them the death penalty, they have been acquitted. This shows that the case we presented was not foolproof, it had… pic.twitter.com/oZ0Di6BQUM
Also read: 2006 Mumbai train blasts: Bombay HC acquits all 12 accused; says prosecution utterly failed to prove case against them
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya expressed concern over the acquittals. “In these 19 years, several family members of the victims have died, some migrated, others forgot about it. But this is a huge jolt, after 19 years, it’s now being said that nothing happened. An incident did take place; it was expected that the judiciary would pronounce a punishment. But they were pronounced innocent. Does this mean there was fraud in the lower court? Or were there issues in the 2006 investigation? Top legal experts will now present the case before the Supreme Court, and justice will be served.”
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Bombay High Court acquitting all 12 people in relation to 2006 Mumbai train bombings, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya says, "In these 19 years, several members of their families died, they migrated, they forgot about it. But this is a huge jolt that after 19 years,… pic.twitter.com/GXBvw1vhqk
— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2025
The high court, in its 671-page judgment, observed that the prosecution had failed to establish the type of explosive used, and found the confessional statements inadmissible due to allegations of torture. The court also noted irregularities in the identification parade and found several prosecution witnesses unreliable.
The judgment began with a critical observation, “Punishing the actual perpetrator of a crime is a concrete and essential step toward curbing criminal activities, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring the safety and security of citizens. But creating a false appearance of having solved a case, by presenting that the accused have been brought to justice, gives a misleading sense of resolution. This deceptive closure undermines public trust and falsely reassures society, while in reality, the true threat remains at large. Essentially, this is what the case at hand conveys.”
The case involved seven blasts on Mumbai suburban trains during peak evening hours on July 11, 2006, which killed 189 people and injured over 800. The trial court had relied heavily on confessions recorded under MCOCA provisions. The High Court found these confessions lacked credibility and raised serious doubts about the entire investigation and trial process.
Meanwhile, defence advocate Tahera Qureshi, who represented one of the accused, said, “We are very happy with today's decision because we have been waiting for this for 19 years, especially after the sentence was imposed and four to five people received death sentences. I represent Zamir Sheikh, one of the accused. He was sentenced to life imprisonment based on the belief that he knew the incident was going to happen. He allegedly went abroad for training and later returned to India, where he was accused of participating in reconnaissance. When my client was arrested, he was just 25-26 years old and came from a middle-class family. He was falsely implicated in this case.”
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Bombay High Court acquitting all 12 people in relation to 2006 Mumbai train bombings, Defence Advocate Tahera Qureshi who represented one of the accused, says, "We are very happy with today's decision because we had been waiting for this for 19 years,… pic.twitter.com/lbBKkQUUUP
— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2025
'Prosecution failed to establish type of bomb used'
What the court observed-
- Prosecution failed to establish the type of bomb used.
- Very unusual that witnesses could identify accused after four years.
- Prosecution evidence not reliable enough to base convictions upon.
- Some witnesses were "stock witnesses."
- A witness who allegedly saw bombs being assembled remained silent for 100 days and was initially a suspect before changing his statement.
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