Will hire top lawyers, innocents shouldn't be punished: Ajit Pawar on 7/11 blast case

A division bench of Bombay High Court acquitted all the 12 accused who were awarded death and life sentence in 2015 by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court.

Mumbai: Rattled by the Bombay High Court’s acquittal of 12 accused in the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombing case and their release, the Maharashtra government has decided to engage top lawyers in the Supreme Court.

On Monday, a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak, acquitted all the 12 accused - five facing death sentences and seven facing live imprisonments - awarded in 2015 by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice M M Sundresh and Justice N K Singh ordered a stay on the judgement of the high court order to the extent that it won’t be treated as a precedent in other MCOCA cases.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appeared on the behalf of Maharashtra.

In the MCOCA Court and Bombay High Court, Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakre presented the case.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, spoke to senior police and law officials about the fallout of the verdict.

“We will engage top lawyers to fight in the Supreme Court,” Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said.

“ We are of the view that those involved in the (7/11) incident must be punished but innocent should not be troubled,” Pawar said.

Among those acquitted by the Bombay High Court include five – Kamal Ansari, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan – who were awarded the death penalty by the MCOCA court in 2015.

Seven others who were sentenced to life sentences by the MCOCA court are - Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh and Zameer Ahmed Latiur Rehman Shaikh. Kamal Ansari died in 2021.

Of the total 12 accused, Abdul Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted by the MCOCA Court in 2015. The state government had not filed an appeal against his acquittal at the time.