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 punished.
More than 180 people were killed in the seven train blasts that had ripped across Mumbai locals on July 11, 2006.
Pawar 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 said.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya has welcomed the Supreme Court`s 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 PTI.
Reacting 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 hanged.”
While 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 reported.
On 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 crime.”
The Maharashtra government then approached the Supreme Court against the High Court`s judgment to acquit the accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.
Among its grounds for appeal, the state argued that the High Court had disbelieved the recovery of RDX from an accused on a “hyper-technical ground” – specifically, that the seized explosives were not sealed with a lac seal.
Furthermore in its appeal, the state government has raised several serious objections to the High Court`s order of acquittal.
The state`s plea further asserts that due procedural safeguards under Section 23(2) 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 PTI.
It stated that the High Court overlooked the validity of these approvals despite no substantial contradiction in the prosecution`s evidence.
The High Court`s decision to acquit the 12 accused came as a major embarrassment for the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which had investigated the case.
The agency`s 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 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
(With inputs from PTI)
