The
Maharashtra government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the
Bombay High Court's verdict, acquitting 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai bomb
blast case.
Seeking
an urgent listing of the matter, Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for
the Maharashtra government, mentioned it before a
Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai. The matter has been listed
for Thursday.
SG
Mehta told the court, "It is a serious matter..SLP is ready. Please list
it tomorrow..There is urgency." CJI BR Gavai said that he read that after
the Bombay High Court's verdict on July 21, eight out of 12 accused were
released from prison.
Earlier on Monday, the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai
train bomb blast case because the prosecution "utterly failed' to prove a
case against them. Quashing the conviction of the 12 accused, the court noted,
"The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused.
It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their
conviction is quashed and set aside."
The
bench said that it refuses to confirm the death penalty imposed on five of the
convicts and also the life imprisonment on the remaining seven, and acquitted
them. The court, in its order, also stated that the accused were tortured by
the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), who were under pressure ot find culprits.
The
verdict came 19 years after the terror attack, which shook Mumbai's Western
Railway network.
In
2015, a special court convicted 12 people in the case, five of whom were
sentenced to death, while seven others were given life imprisonment.
Earlier
on Monday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed shock over
the verdict given by the Bombay High Court and added that the state government
will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
Senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday
said that the state government will assess the merits of the order before
deciding on whether to challenge it in the top court.
On July 11, 2006, bomb blasts took place at seven
different locations in Mumbai local trains in just 11 minutes. Nearly 189
people died in these blasts, while more than 827 passengers were injured. The
bombs were placed in the first-class compartments of trains from Churchgate.
They exploded near the stations of Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar,
Jogeshwari, Bhayandar, and Borivali.