2006 Mumbai train blast convict moves Delhi HC for reports on probe

A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court, by a convict in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings case, challenging a CIC order denying his request for the Maharashtra government's report of investigation into the blasts which claimed 189 lives.

The convict -- Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique -- who has been sentenced to death in the case has also sought the Andhra Pradesh government's dossier on the probe into the alleged involvement of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) group in the blasts.

On July 11, 2006, seven RDX explosions ripped through as many Western line local trains in Mumbai, leading to the death of 189 people and injuring 829.

Siddique has claimed that he was falsely implicated in the blasts case and therefore, it amounts to violation of his human rights.

During the hearing on Friday, his counsel argued before Justice Navin Chawla that there is a high court order of 2019 which states that certain information can be provided under the Right to Information Act if violation of human rights was involved.

The court, thereafter, asked advocate Arpit Bhargava, appearing for the convict, to file the 2019 order and listed the matter for hearing on January 13, 2021.

Central government counsel Rahul Sharma and advocate C K Bhatt, appearing for the Ministry of Home Affairs, opposed the plea and said the information sought cannot be provided.

They also contended that several similar requests have been made by the convict under RTI in the past.