Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday closed for orders on the death confirmation petition by the state government and appeals by the convicts in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings.

A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak has been hearing the appeals for five months on a daily basis. The convicts in the case, who are lodged at different prisons across the state, have been attending the hearing via video conference.

Before closing the case for order, the bench asked if any accused had anything to say. “If any of the accused want to say anything, we can allow them to do so for two minutes,” the court said.

One of the convicts, Naved Hussain, lodged at the Nagpur prison, claimed he was innocent and told the court he was implicated.

When no other convict spoke, the bench thanked everyone and said, “Closed for judgment.”

Special public prosecutors Raja Thakare and A. Chimalkar urged the court to confirm death sentences of the five accused and uphold life sentences of seven others.

Several senior lawyers, including former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court S Muralidhar; former Justice of Kerala High Court and now senior Advocate S Nagamuthu; and advocate Yug Choudhari argued for the convicts. Muralidhar, appearing for two convicts who have been sentenced to life, had argued that they are innocent and have been languishing in jail for 18 years.

On July 11, 2006, RDX blasts at seven locations on the suburban rail network of Mumbai in a span of 11 minutes had claimed 189 lives and injured 827 commuters.

Initially, seven different FIRs were registered at local police stations. Considering the gravity of the offence, the case was transferred to the State Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS).

While 13 accused were arrested, 15 people were shown as wanted, some of them allegedly in Pakistan. One of the accused died while planting the bomb and the other was shot dead in an encounter. The ATS invoked the MCOCA and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and the chargesheet was filed in November 2006.

There were 192 prosecution witnesses and 51 defence witnesses and two court witnesses.

In 2015, the trial court had convicted 12 persons. Five were sentenced to death, while seven were given life imprisonment. The state’s appeal for confirmation of the death penalties is mandatory under the law.

Since 2015, the pleas have not been taken up even after the matter came up for hearing before 11 different benches. In 2024, Etheshaam Siddiqui, who was handed the death penalty, filed an application in the HC seeking its intervention, expeditious hearing, and disposal of the appeals.