11/7 case: HC discarded confessions on technicalities, Maha tells SC | India News
NEW DELHI: A day after Bombay high court quashed the conviction of all 12 accused found guilty a decade ago for the 2006 Mumbai train blasts that killed 187 and injured 824 people, Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to hear on Thursday an appeal filed by Maharashtra govt challenging the acquittals.State govt told the apex court that HC misdirected itself into trivialities and misread cogent evidence, leading to failure of justice.Evidence had been meticulously collected by the prosecution to establish a chain, inculpating the accused for specific roles discharged by them to strike terror at the heart of the economic capital of India and wage a war against the country, govt added.‘HC discarded confessions on technicalities’Solicitor general Tushar Mehta told a bench led by CJI BR Gavai, “It (the plea) requires urgent hearing as it has serious ramifications. Can it be listed for hearing on Wednesday?” Gavai said he learnt from news reports that eight accused have already been released from prison. SG said it was true, but the petition required urgent hearing. Finding additional solicitor general Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakre alongside the SG, the CJI said, “It was Thakre who had argued the case before HC. We will list the petition for hearing the day after tomorrow (Thursday).” HC on Monday had acquitted all 12 accused, five of whom were awarded death penalty and the rest life sentences, in the case relating to seven coordinated bomb blasts in as many crowded suburban trains within six minutes from 6.23pm on July 11, 2006. In Sept 2015, the special trial court for crimes under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act had convicted the 12 accused while acquitting one. Maharashtra govt told SC that the evidence clearly pointed to central role of LeT commander Azam Cheema, a Pakistani national, and two other accused who masterminded the attack on Mumbai by sending three groups of terrorists from Pakistan who entered India through Kutch, Gujarat, and through various entry points to India from Bangladesh and Nepal. It said the confessions of the accused persons, admissible under MCOCA, were discarded by the HC on technicalities even when they formed a chain of events and outlined the conspiracy to launch the sinister attack on Mumbai suburban trains, which were full of people returning from offices, and cause maximum loss of lives.
