19 Years of Injustice Must Not Go Unpunished: SDPI

The Social Democratic Party of India stands in firm solidarity with the 12 innocent individuals acquitted by the Bombay High Court on July 21, 2025, in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case. Their acquittal after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment exposes a horrifying miscarriage of justice, orchestrated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and facilitated by successive governments that allowed communal bias to override the rule of law.

The High Court’s ruling condemned the prosecution’s “utter failure” to prove guilt. It exposed how the ATS relied on coerced confessions under MCOCA, testimonies of discredited witnesses, and improperly sealed evidence like RDX. The court noted that confessions were “copy-pasted” and inadmissible, while witnesses had a record of appearing in unrelated cases. Moreover, credible leads—such as confessions by Indian Mujahideen—were deliberately ignored to push a false narrative linking the accused, all Muslims, to Pakistan.

This is not an isolated instance. The pattern of targeting Muslims in terror investigations—seen in other cases like the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blasts—exposes systemic prejudice within law enforcement, especially under the ATS. The BJP-led government has deepened this injustice by weakening probes into Hindu nationalist terror. Hemant Karkare’s evidence-based investigation in the 2008 Malegaon case was systematically diluted. Accused individuals like Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Col. Purohit enjoy political protection while victims continue to await justice. The acquittal of all accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express case, despite clear investigative leads, further demonstrates this disturbing double standard. The Congress-led UPA government, which presided over the initial investigation into the 2006 blasts, is equally complicit. Their failure to uphold professional standards enabled the ATS to use torture, fabricated evidence, and communal profiling without consequence.

The SDPI strongly condemns the Maharashtra BJP government’s reported decision to challenge the High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court. Attempting to reverse the acquittals of innocent men—after 19 years of wrongful incarceration—is a continuation of the same injustice. We demand immediate compensation and rehabilitation for the acquitted, and an independent inquiry into ATS practices. Structural reforms are essential to end communal bias in terror investigations.

Adv. Sharfuddin Ahmad
National Vice President
Social Democratic Party of India