Special Correspondent
New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Bombay High Court’s recent decision acquitting all 12 men convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case. The apex court’s intervention has come as a major relief to the Maharashtra government and families of the victims, many of whom had expressed outrage after the High Court’s ruling earlier this week.
On Monday, the Bombay High Court had overturned the convictions of all 12 accused, who were earlier sentenced by a special MCOCA court in 2015. Following the acquittal, the accused were immediately released from prison. The decision had sparked widespread public anger, particularly from survivors and relatives of the victims of the horrific blasts.
Responding swiftly, the Maharashtra government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict. While hearing the petition, the Supreme Court issued notices to all the acquitted individuals and stayed the implementation of the High Court’s order. However, the court clarified that the accused will not be taken back into custody at this stage.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Maharashtra government, argued that certain observations made by the Bombay High Court in its ruling could adversely affect other ongoing cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). He requested the court to urgently stay the verdict to prevent it from being used as precedent. The Supreme Court agreed, making it clear that the High Court’s findings cannot be cited in any other case.
On the evening of July 11, 2006, between 6:24 p.m. and 6:35 p.m., seven powerful bomb explosions occurred in first-class compartments of suburban trains on Mumbai’s Western Railway line. The blasts took place near Khar, Bandra, Mahim, Jogeshwari, Matunga, Borivali, and Mira Road railway stations. The bombs were made using RDX, ammonium nitrate, fuel oil, and iron nails, and were concealed inside pressure cookers with timers.
These coordinated explosions killed 189 people and injured over 800, making it one of the deadliest terror attacks in Mumbai’s history.
Between July and October 2006, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested several suspects. In November that year, some of the accused claimed their confessions were extracted under duress. A chargesheet was later filed against 30 individuals, 13 of whom were identified as Pakistani nationals.
After nearly nine years of trial, a special MCOCA court in Mumbai delivered its verdict on September 11, 2015. It awarded the death sentence to five convicts and life imprisonment to seven others. One person was acquitted.
In 2016, all the convicted individuals filed appeals in the Bombay High Court. Hearings began in 2019 and continued intermittently until 2024. On July 22, 2025, the High Court overturned the trial court’s decision and acquitted all 12 accused, stating that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain convictions.
The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the acquittals has been welcomed by many as a step toward ensuring justice for the victims. Families who lost their loved ones have expressed relief that the case will now be reviewed further. Civil society activists and some political leaders have also supported the court’s intervention.
However, a few human rights organizations have called for caution, emphasizing the need to ensure that the rights of the acquitted individuals are not violated if they were indeed wrongfully convicted.
As the case returns to the courtroom, all eyes are now on the Supreme Court’s next hearing. The ruling will be critical not only for the accused and the victims’ families but also for the broader implications it may have on India’s anti-terror legal framework.
