Supreme Court stays Bombay HC order acquitting 12 people in Mumbai train bomb blasts case

The top court has issued a notice to all the accused.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh said the High Court verdict should not be treated as a precedent.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Maharashtra government, sought a stay order on the High Court verdict but did not push for a stay on the release of the acquitted people.

The top court too did not stay the release of the acquitted people, who were convicted by a lower court in the bombing that had killed 189 people.

A trial court had sentenced five of the 12 accused to death in 2015, while the rest were handed life imprisonment.

The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their conviction is quashed and set aside," the High Court bench had said as quoted by NDTV in its report.

The verdict comes 19 years after the serial blasts that took place in crowded suburban trains, Mumbai's lifeline, in 2006 during the evening peak hours.

Seven RDX bombs went off in a span of just 11 minutes in the first-class coaches of Mumbai's suburban trains on July 11, 2006, killing 188 people and injuring 800.

The bombs were kept in pressure cookers.

The blasts occurred between Khar Road-Santacruz, Bandra-Khar Road, Jogeshwari-Mahim Junction, Mira Road- Bhayander, Matunga- Mahim Junction and Borivali.