The Supreme Court on Thursday paused the Bombay High Court verdict in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case, but said the 12 acquitted won’t be re-arrested.

The top court said the High Court’s acquittal should not be treated as a precedent and issued a notice to the accused on the Maharashtra government’s petition challenging the High Court order.

“All respondents were released and thus no question to bring them back to prison. However, on the question of law, we will say that impugned judgment is not treated as precedent in any other cases. Therefore, to that extent, let there be a stay on the impugned judgment,” the Supreme Court said.

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On July 11, 2006, a series of bomb blasts ripped through seven Mumbai local train coaches, killing 189 people and injuring 824.

In 2015, a special court awarded death sentences to five of the 13 convicts. Seven others were given life imprisonment, while one was acquitted. One of the convicts sentenced to death died of Covid in 2021.

On Monday, a bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak set aside the special court verdict and acquitted all the accused, saying the prosecution “utterly failed to establish offences beyond reasonable doubt” against the accused.

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Published By: sharangee Published On: Jul 24, 2025