Nagpur: In a major development in one of India’s most high-profile terror cases, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 men convicted in the 2006 Mumbai suburban train blast case — including three currently imprisoned in Nagpur Central Jail. The court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and found serious lapses in the investigation and evidence presented.
Those acquitted include Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui (C/9168), Naveed Hussain Rashid Hussain Khan (C/9169), and Mohammed Ali Alam Sher Sheikh (C/9171) — all three lodged in Nagpur prison. The ruling also posthumously applies to Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari, who died due to COVID-19 while in Nagpur jail in 2021.
The complete list of acquitted accused is as follows:
- Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari (deceased in 2021 in Nagpur Jail)
- Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh
- Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui
- Asif Khan Bashir Khan Juned Abdulla
- Naveed Hussain Rashid Hussain Khan
- Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari
- Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi
- Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Sher Sheikh
- Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari
- Muzzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh
- Suhail Mehmood Shaikh
- Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh
The division bench of Justice Anil S. Kilor and Justice Shyam C. Chandak quashed the September 30, 2015, verdict of the MCOCA Special Court which had sentenced five of the accused to death and seven others to life imprisonment. The court noted that the prosecution primarily relied on weak and inconsistent eyewitness accounts, unreliable confessional statements, and incomplete circumstantial evidence.
Quoting from its 671-page judgment, the High Court said:
“Punishing the actual perpetrator of a crime is essential. But creating a false appearance of resolution by punishing the wrong individuals gives a misleading sense of justice. That is essentially what this case conveys.”
The 2006 serial blasts occurred on July 11 in Mumbai’s suburban trains during peak evening hours, killing 187 people and injuring over 824. Seven FIRs were registered at different police stations, later consolidated and investigated by the Maharashtra ATS.
The trial had initially involved 13 accused. One — Abdul Wahid Din Mohammad Shaikh — was acquitted by the Special Court in 2015 after nine years in jail. Another, Kamal Ansari, died during trial. The remaining 12 were convicted and sentenced.
Following years of legal delays, a special bench was constituted in July 2024 to fast-track the appeals. On July 21, 2025, the High Court categorically rejected the death sentences and life terms, citing failure of the prosecution to conclusively prove guilt.
The court has directed all accused to be released immediately unless booked in other cases. Each of them must execute a Personal Recognizance (P.R.) bond of ₹25,000 as per Section 481 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (previously Section 437A of CrPC), to secure their appearance in the event of further legal proceedings.
The verdict was delivered via video conference, with the accused appearing from jails across Maharashtra. Several were seen breaking down in tears and thanking their legal teams as the court pronounced the long-awaited acquittal — a dramatic conclusion to a nearly two-decade-long legal saga that now leaves the actual perpetrators of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts still unidentified.
