AFTER 18 YEARS IN JAIL, BOMBAY HC ACQUITS ALL 12 MUSLIM MEN ACCUSED IN 7/11 MUMBAI BLASTS CASE

Tue 22 July 2025:

After spending nearly two decades behind bars, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 Muslim men accused of orchestrating the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts that killed 189 people and injured over 800, observing that “the prosecution utterly failed in establishing the case beyond reasonable doubts.”

A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak, which heard the appeals filed by the State and the convicts over a span of six months, delivered its judgment on Monday, acquitting all 12 accused, bringing an end to their 18 years of languishing in jail.

The Bombay High Court found the testimonies of nearly all prosecution witnesses to be unreliable, noting that there was no plausible reason for taxi drivers or train passengers to remember the accused nearly 100 days after the blasts.

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Regarding the alleged recovery of evidence such as bombs, firearms, and maps, the Court observed that such recovery was immaterial to the case, as the prosecution had failed to establish even the type of bomb used in the attacks.

The Court had been hearing the appeals in the case since July 2024.

In September 2015, a special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) had convicted 12 men in connection with the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, sentencing five of them to death and the remaining seven to life imprisonment.

Kamal Ansari, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan, and Asif Khan were given the death penalty for allegedly planting the bombs.

The others, Tanveer Ahmed, Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh, and Zameer Ahmed Latiur Rehman Shaikh, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Tragically, Kamal Ahmad Ansari, one of the accused passed away in 2021 due to COVID-19 while still incarcerated.

Another accused, Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted by the trial court itself after spending nine years in jail. The appeals filed by both the State and the convicted men had been pending before the Bombay High Court since 2015.

In July 2024, following pleas from some of the convicts seeking speedy disposal, a special bench comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak was constituted to hear the matter.

Former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court and now senior advocate, Dr. S. Muralidhar, appeared for two of the convicts, Muzzamil Ataur Rahman Shaikh from Bangalore and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh from Worli, Mumbai, both of whom had challenged their life sentences.

In his detailed submissions before the court, Dr. S. Muralidhar pointed out significant lapses in both the investigation and the trial process.

He drew attention to the shortcomings of the investigating officers in recording the confessional statements of the accused and raised serious concerns about the influence of media trials and the conduct of courts in terrorism-related or high-profile cases.

Muralidhar asserted that the investigation in the 7/11 blasts case was “biased,” compromising the fairness of the entire legal process.

“Innocent people are sent to jail and then, years later, when they are released, there is no possibility for reconstruction of their lives,” Dr. S. Muralidhar told the court while arguing for the acquittal of two of the accused.

“These men have been in jail for the last 17 years. They haven’t stepped out even for a day. The majority of their prime life is gone,” he said.

He criticised the pattern followed by law enforcement in high-profile cases, stating, “In such cases where there is a public outcry, the approach by police is always to first assume guilt and then go from there.” Highlighting the damaging role of media coverage, he added, “Police officers hold press conferences, and the way the media reports the case, it virtually decides the guilt of a person.”

“In many such terror cases, investigating agencies have failed us miserably,” he said.

Arguing that the 12 men had spent 18 years in prison without proper evidence, he said justice had long been denied, “So many lives were lost in those blasts that tore through Mumbai’s Western Railway Local Line, and then these innocents were arrested.”

“Years pass, the accused are finally acquitted, and yet no one finds closure. We have a history of failures in investigations of terror cases. But it is not too late, the court can still set it right,” he said.

Muralidhar also urged the bench to consider the lasting damage caused by stigma, stating, “It is not just the accused who suffer. Their children, their parents, their relatives, all of them get tainted,” adding, “And once tainted, Milords, this society is too cruel to them. No one treats them properly. Please consider this factor too.”