Mumbai, July 21,2025: In a judicial verdict that has sent shockwaves through the legal community, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 suspects previously convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, declaring that the prosecution had “utterly failed” to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The judgment, delivered 19 years after the terror attack that claimed over 180 lives and left hundreds injured, was pronounced by a special bench comprising justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak. The bench categorically stated that the evidence presented was insufficient to sustain convictions, observing it was “hard to believe that the accused committed the crime.”
The court quashed both the death sentences awarded to five individuals and life imprisonment terms given to the remaining seven.
The horrific incident occurred on July 11, 2006, when seven coordinated bomb explosions ripped through Mumbai’s suburban railway network during evening rush hour, targeting first-class compartments of Western Railway trains.
The blasts occurred over an 11-minute span (6:24 pm to 6:35 pm) at locations including Khar Road-Santacruz, Bandra-Khar Road, Jogeshwari-Mahim Junction, Mira Road-Bhayander, Matunga-Mahim Junction, and Borivali. Pressure cooker bombs designed to maximize casualties killed 189 people and injured over 700.
Following an extensive investigation by Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), a special MCOCA court convicted all twelve defendants in September 2015. Five – Ehtesham Qutbuddin Siddiqui, Kamal Ansari, Faisal Atta-ur-Rehman Sheikh, Asif Bashir, and Naveed Hussain – received death sentences. Seven others – Muhammad Ali Sheikh, Sohail Sheikh, Zameer Latif-ur-Rehman, Dr. Tanveer, Muzammil Atta-ur-Rehman Sheikh, Majid Shafi, and Sajid Marghub Ansari – were sentenced to life imprisonment.
