The Maharashtra government faced a serious flak from the Bombay High Court on Wednesday for lack of seriousness in pursuing appeals and petitions seeking confirmations of death penalties imposed on convicts in the July 11, 2006 serial train blasts case, popularly known as 7/11 Mumbai Train Blasts case.
It has been 17 years since a several blasts ripped through Mumbai local trains in the evening rush hour on July 11, 2006, and the Bombay High Court is yet to commence hearing on the confirmation of the death penalty given to five convicts in the case.
During Wednesday's hearing, a division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Rajesh Patil was informed that the state government was yet to appoint a special public prosecutor (SPP) to argue its case seeking confirmation of the death sentences awarded to five convicts.
Senior advocate Raja Thackeray, who conducted the trial before the special court, was appointed as SPP. Recently, he expressed his disinclination to continue as the SPP to the State government. In view of this, the state had sought an adjournment in earlier hearings to appoint a new SPP.
Meanwhile, the state approached Thackeray again requesting him to represent them in the cases as SPP, and the terms are under consideration.
The judges were irked by the fact that the state once again sought adjournment to consider the issue of appointment of SPP in the matter.
"Is this the way you are treating these appeals? There is no seriousness with which the government is treating this issue. We will summon the Chief Secretary of the Home Department of the State to answer us tomorrow morning," the bench said.
The bench asked the state government to sort the issue of the SPP by September 8. It also asked the additional public prosecutor (APP) to keep an officer from the law and justice department present in the court on that day.
"We do not want mid-level officers, we want someone from the government. If there is a failure on the aforesaid issue on the appointment of SPP or entrustment of the case to an APP by the day after tomorrow, we will call upon the principal secretary of the State Home and Justice department," the bench warned.
The bench also indicated that it is inclined to begin hearing the confirmation petitions from October 5, 2023, on a day-to-day basis.
"This court is inclined to commence final hearings from Oct 5 on a day-to-day basis. Either it will be the first half or second half of the day, but we will hear it on a day-to-day basis," the bench said.
On July 11, 2006, RDX blasts at 7 locations on the suburban rail network of Mumbai in a span of 11 minutes had claimed 189 lives and injured 800.
In September 2015, the special MCOCA court had awarded death sentences to five convicts and life imprisonment to seven others. A death sentence awarded by the trial court has to be confirmed by the HC.
The state government has approached the HC seeking confirmation of the death sentence of four convicts – Mohammad Faisal Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan, Asif Khan, all of them bomb planters. They have also filed an appeal against their conviction and death sentence. Kamal Ahamed Ansari, one of the bomb planters who was awarded death sentence by the MCOCA court died due to Covid-19 in Nagpur Prison recently. So the case against him stands abated (dropped).
The other seven – Tanvir Ahmed Ansari, Mohammad Majid Shafi, Shaikh Alam Shaikh, Mohd Sajid Ansari, Muzzammil Shaikh, Soheil Mehmood Shaikh and Zamir Ahmad Shaikh – have also approached the HC challenging their life imprisonment.
