2006 Mumbai train blasts: Bombay HC acquits all 12 accused

The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 people convicted by a lower court in the serial bombing case. In 2015, a trial court had convicted these 12 accused, sentencing five of them to death and the others to life imprisonment.The Court also refused the Maharashtra Government’s plea seeking confirmation of their sentences. The special bench of Justices Anil S Kilor and Shyam C Chandak questioned the trustworthiness of certain prosecution witnesses and the Test Identification Parade (TIP) of some of the accused. The bench ordered their release, if they are not required to be detained in any other case, and directed all of them to execute personal bonds of Rs. 25,000 each. The HC held that the prosecution failed to establish its case against all the accused. The prosecution failed to say what kind of explosive was used, its confession statements failed the test of validity, accepted defence arguments of torture before alleged confessions and the HC also discarded the identification parade, for want of proper authority, as well as deposition of witnesses who identified the accused during trial as lacking credibility.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya says, "The verdict delivered by the Mumbai High Court regarding the 2006 Mumbai twin blasts has been deeply disappointing and shocking. Certainly, there must have been shortcomings in the investigation and later in the legal presentation in court." 

Watch: Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all the twelve accused in the 7/11 train blasts case of 2006

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya says, "The verdict delivered today by the Mumbai High Court regarding the 2006 Mumbai twin blasts has been deeply disappointing and shocking.… pic.twitter.com/hHOUGPU6ZU

— IANS (@ians_india) July 21, 2025

The case pertains to the serial bomb blasts that occurred on July 11, 2006, in which seven bombs exploded in suburban trains on Mumbai’s Western Railway line, killing 189 people and injuring 824. Following a prolonged trial under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the special court in October 2015 sentenced five of the accused to death and seven to life imprisonment.