7/11 Mumbai train blast case: People died, but innocents should not hang, accused tells court

2006 Mumbai serial train blasts: On July 11, 2006, RDX explosions at seven locations on Mumbai's suburban rail network in a span of 11 minutes claimed 189 lives and injured 827 commuters.

After six and a half months of marathon hearings, the Bombay High Court on Friday reserved its order on the various death confirmation petitions and appeals filed by the accused in the 7/11 Mumbai train blast case. The court began hearing the petitions in July 2024, and lawyers recalled how the division bench sat almost every day to conclude the voluminous case.

The bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak, on the last day of the hearing, said, "If any of the accused want to say anything, we can permit them to do so for two minutes." The accused were connected through video conferencing from Yerwada Prison in Pune, as well as from Central Prisons in Amravati, Nashik, and Nagpur.

Accused No. 12, Naved Hussain, from Nagpur Central Prison, stated that the case against him was false and that he was innocent. “I am not going to speak for everyone, but I am speaking for myself. I am not involved in this case. I did not even know these other people except for probably one before the arrests. I have no role in this, and I have been suffering for the last 19 years. People lost their lives in the train blast, but retribution should not mean that innocent people are hanged,” he said.

Hussain is alleged to be one of the bomb planters and has been sentenced to death by the trial court. An extra-judicial confession of Hussain, which India Today had accessed, was part of the prosecution’s case.

Advocates Yug Mohit Chaudhry and Payoshi Roy, appearing for all 12 accused, argued that the extra-judicial confession was inadmissible and tainted by torture. The lawyers questioned how the accused had not confessed for over three months but then suddenly all confessed once the draconian Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was invoked, which makes confessions given to police admissible. After MCOCA was invoked, investigators recorded 11 confessions.

During the hearing on Friday, when no other accused spoke after Hussain, the bench thanked everyone and said, “Closed for judgment.”

On July 11, 2006, RDX explosions at seven locations on Mumbai’s suburban rail network in a span of 11 minutes claimed 189 lives and injured 827 commuters.

While 13 accused were arrested, 15 others were declared wanted, some allegedly in Pakistan. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) invoked MCOCA and UAPA, filing the chargesheet in November 2006.

In 2015, the trial court convicted 12 people:

• Five were sentenced to death.
• Seven were given life imprisonment.

As per the law, the state government then filed a petition in the High Court seeking confirmation of the death sentences. The accused also filed appeals challenging their convictions and sentences.

After nine years, a special bench was constituted last year to hear appeals and death sentence confirmations after Etheshaam Siddiqui, one of the convicts facing the death penalty, filed an application in the High Court. The case had remained pending since 2015, with hearings being transferred between 11 different benches due to the sheer volume of documents and evidence.

Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare argued for nearly three months, urging the court to confirm the death penalty, asserting that this was a "rarest of rare case."

Lawyers representing the accused argued for over four months, pointing out loopholes in the prosecution’s case. They also cited an investigation conducted later by the Mumbai Crime Branch, which led to revelations about Indian Mujahideen’s (IM) involvement. They claimed that an IM operative, Sadiq, had confessed that IM was responsible for the train blasts. The defence lawyers also stressed that the accused had been behind bars for over 18 years without stepping out of prison.