Read Time: 08 minutes

Synopsis

17 years after the Mumbai Train Blast on 11 July 2006 the Bombay High Court is yet to commence its hearing for the confirmation of the death penalty awarded to 5 convicts by a Special Court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) and the appeals filed by the convicts against the conviction order of the special court.

On July 11, 2006, an initial blast occurred just after 6:20 pm in a local train travelling between Churchgate and Borivali, specifically between the Khar and Santacruz stations. Around the same time, another explosion took place in a local train between Bandra and Khar. Following these incidents, five additional explosions were reported in Jogeshwari, Mahim, Mira Road-Bhayandar, Matunga-Mahim, and Borivali.

On July 11, 2006, a sequence of explosions occurred in seven coaches of suburban trains, resulting in the tragic death of 189 commuters and causing injuries to 824 individuals. Following a trial lasting over eight years, a special court operating under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) pronounced the death penalty for five convicts (Ehtesham Sidduiqui, Asif Khan, Faisal Shaikh, Naveed Khan, and Kamal Ansari) and life imprisonment for seven others in October 2015.

The plea filed by the Maharashtra Government, seeking confirmation of the death sentence, and the appeal filed by the convicts have been circulating among various benches of the Bombay High Court since the imposition of the death penalty in 2015.

In July last year, a division bench of Justice RD Dhanuka and Justice M G Sewlikar adjourned the hearing stating that the bench was overburdened with work. The high court was informed that the case involved a total of 92 prosecution witnesses and over 50 defence witnesses. The evidence presented in the case spanned 169 volumes, and the judgments for the death sentences extended to nearly 2,000 pages.

In September 2022, when the pleas came for hearing before the division bench led by Justice PB Varale, the court was informed that the appeal of the convicts have not been tagged with the State's plea of confirmation of the death penalty. In October 2022, Justice PB Varale was recommended and transferred to the Karnataka High Court as the Chief Justice. 

In November 2022, another bench headed by Justice AS Gadkari recused from hearing the plea of the five convicts. Since then the petition is yet to be listed before another bench of the high court.

In February 2023, a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice NW Sambre and RN Ladha rejected the plea of Ehtesham Siddiqui, a Mumbai train blast convict, who sought relief from the high court to write his law exams for the third semester. The bench had observed that at such short notice, it would be difficult to arrange an escort from Nagpur to Mumbai and also the due process was not followed by the convict by approaching the courts directly. The high court, however, allowed Siddique to take his chance in the next exam.

However, in April 2023, A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Sunil B Shukre and Justice MM Sathaye allowed another life convict, Mohammad Sajid Margub Ansari to take his Semester 2 LLB exams. In 2022 the high court granted permission to Ansari to take his LLB semester 1 exam with adequate conditions. 

In February 2023, a single-judge bench of Justice PD Naik of the Bombay High Court lifted the stay on the trial of the murder of Advocate Shahid Azmi who was killed in 2010 at his office. Azmi had represented the convicts in the train blasts case. He was in Tihar Jail for a period of 7 years after he was charged under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act for involvement in the 1992 Bombay Riots. However, his acquittal was upheld by the Supreme Court. During his 7 years in jail, he obtained his LLB degree and went on to represent the several accused in Malegoan Blast Case, the 7/11 Mumbai Trian Blast, Aurangabad Arms Haul Case, and Ghatkopar Blasts Case.