2006 train blasts: Political leaders welcome SC's decision to stay HC acquittal

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the state government would present a robust case in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts proceedings in the Supreme Court and asserted that the accused who perpetrated the crime would be punishedMore than 180 people were killed in the seven train blasts that had ripped across Mumbai locals on July 11 2006Pawar noted that successive governments over the years had made their utmost efforts to build a strong case Now after the HC verdict the government will hire good lawyers so that the accused will be punished he saidFollowing the apex court stay on the HC order in Mumbai 711 train blast case Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde wrote on X The Supreme Court has stayed the Bombay High Courtrsquos decision to acquit the accused in the 11 July 2006 serial bomb blasts that took place on Western Railway local trains in Mumbai We are sincerely thankful to the Supreme Court for this decision After the High Courtrsquos verdict the state government wasted no time and immediately approached the Supreme Court We sincerely congratulate the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr Devendra Fadnavis and the concerned administrative officials for their swift action We also extend our appreciation to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who represented the governmentrsquos side in court Not a single accused involved in the bomb blasts which claimed the lives of 190 Mumbaikars will walk free They will be brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent The state government will not rest until the guilty are severely punished hellipmdash Eknath Shinde mieknathshinde July 24 2025Meanwhile Bharatiya Janata Party BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has welcomed the Supreme Courts decision to stay the Bombay High Court verdict that acquitted all the 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case He said all the accused should be hanged to death reported news agency PTIReacting on the Supreme Court stay former BJP MP Somaiya issued a statement saying I welcome the Supreme Court stay on the HC verdict acquitting all the accused All of them should be hanged I am sure the Maharashtra government will put its case strongly in the apex court and all the accused will be hangedWhile staying the High Court order on Thursday the Supreme Court however clarified that there was no question of returning the 12 individuals to prison and emphasised that the lower court judgment should not be treated as a precedent PTI reportedOn Monday the Bombay High Court had acquitted all the 12 accused stating that the prosecution had utterly failed to prove the case and it was hard to believe the accused committed the crimeThe Maharashtra government then approached the Supreme Court against the High Courts judgment to acquit the accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts caseAmong its grounds for appeal the state argued that the High Court had disbelieved the recovery of RDX from an accused on a hypertechnical ground ndash specifically that the seized explosives were not sealed with a lac sealFurthermore in its appeal the state government has raised several serious objections to the High Courts order of acquittalThe states plea further asserts that due procedural safeguards under Section 232 of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA were observed including proper sanctioning by senior officers such as prosecution witness PW no 185 Anami Roy reported PTIIt stated that the High Court overlooked the validity of these approvals despite no substantial contradiction in the prosecutions evidenceThe High Courts decision to acquit the 12 accused came as a major embarrassment for the Maharashtra AntiTerrorism Squad ATS which had investigated the caseThe agencys investigations had revealed that the accused were members of the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India SIMI and had conspired with Pakistani members of the terror group LashkareTaiba LeTWith inputs from PTI