2006 train blast convicts’ appeals are still pending

Bombay High Court assures 7/11 train bombing convicts of hearing dates, aiming to conclude appeals within 6 months.

The Bombay High Court on July 2 assured convicts in the July 2006 (7/11) train bombing case that it would soon come up with dates for hearings so they could present appeals against their convictions. The court noted that if hearings take place every day, then it might take at least six months to hear all the appeals. Mumbai’s 7/11 serial train blasts killed over 180 people.

A division bench of judges, Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande acknowledged that the appeals have been pending for quite some time. “We should not be deterred by the voluminous documents, but we need a time estimate of how long this will take (for the hearing to conclude). We understand that 18 years is a long time.” The bench has assured that it will decide on the dates by this week. 

The matter came to light after one of the convicts who has been on death row for the last 9 years moved the court calling for an early hearing. In his plea. Convict Ehtesham Siddique through his lawyer, Yug Mohit Chaudhry submitted that people have been behind bars for the last 18 years and there is no provision for them to be heard.

Out of a total of 12 convicts, 5 were sentenced to death and 7 others were given life imprisonment by a trial court in September 2015.

Representing Siddique, lawyer Chaudhry said, “The accused persons were arrested in 2006 and convicted in 2015. This is the oldest confirmation of death sentence petitions pending before this court. Since these appeals and petitions for confirmation were filed in the high court, 14 other petitions of other convicts for confirmation have been heard but train blast convicts are not being heard. Appeals have not yet been taken up for hearing because 190 volumes of documents, 192 prosecution witnesses, and 51 defence witnesses have to be studied.” The lawyer also emphasised that one of the convicts, Kamal Ahmed Ansari had already passed away in prison.

The judges directed lawyer Chaudhry and special public prosecutor Raja Chaudhry to decide on the hearings. To this the public prosecutor said that if the bench hears the appeals daily, the appeals can be heard within 6 months’ time.