Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will challenge the acquittal of 12 accused in the 7/11 Mumbai train bomb blasts case by the Bombay High Court in the Supreme Court, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday.
He described the high court verdict as shocking.
“I will go through the entire order. I have discussed with the lawyers, and the high court verdict will be challenged in the Supreme Court,” he told reporters.
Nineteen years after seven train blasts here killed more than 180 persons, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 accused, saying the prosecution utterly failed to prove the case and it was “hard to believe the accused committed the crime”.
The court allowed the appeals filed by the accused challenging their conviction and sentences imposed on them by a special court in 2015.
A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak said the prosecution has failed to even bring on record the type of bombs used in the crime, and that the evidence relied on by it was not conclusive to convict the accused.
The bench refused to confirm the death penalties imposed on five of the 12 accused and dismissed the confirmation appeals filed by the Maharashtra government.
