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 The following is a petition filed by lawyer Ashish Khetan in the Bombay high court in 2014. The petition raises serious concerns about the ATS’s methods and lapses in investigation, that now appear especially pronounced in wake of the court’s acquittal of all the accused in the 7/11 train blasts case.

To, 

The Hon’ble Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay and His Companion Justices of The High Court of Bombay.

Respected Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court of Bombay,

10. JULY 7 TRAIN BOMBINGS (Case no. MCOCA Special Case No.21/2006)

Background

On July 11, 2006,  Mumbai  was rocked by blasts in local trains. The police found no leads and there was great public anger.. In time the ATS claimed to have solved the crime. The ATS .cracked down on some  former activists  of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and forced the accused to sign on pre-drafted confessions, about which more will be stated presently. A charge-sheet was filed against 13 arrested accused, and 15 absconding accused on December 1, 2006. Since then the trial is going on as MCOCA Special Case No.21/2006  in the court of the Special Judge Y.D.Shinde.under the provisions of MCOCA.

Evidence Led and Courts Mislead 

The evidence lead in the charge-sheet  is/was of three kinds  a) 11 MCOCA confessions made to police officers; b) recoveries of explosives and detonators from some of the accused and;c) so-called public witnesses ( well known stool pigeons or those  under the thumb of the police)  who claimed the unlikely feat of  recognising the faces of some of the  accused, getting in and out from the crowded local trains though they were strangers to them. However, against most of the accused, the case is based on confessions and recoveries.

The agencies have themselves claimed (both in court and in public) that Sadiq’s interrogation led to the arrest of over 70 terror suspects by UP ATS, Hyderabad CIC, Ahmedabad Crime Branch, Rajasthan ATS and Delhi Special Cell. The content of these reports, and  ‘confessions’ etc is part of the charge-sheetsfiled by different agencies. But curiously Sadiq........

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