Bombay High Court questions ATS over missing records in 2006 train blasts case

Mumbai, July 24, 2025

The Bombay High Court has raised serious concerns about the 2006 Mumbai train blasts investigation. The court found that investigators deleted crucial Call Detail Records (CDRs) during the probe. The bench questioned whether the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had manipulated evidence or withheld key data from the defence. It raised these concerns while hearing appeals filed by the convicts in the 7/11 case.

The High Court said the CDRs were crucial to showing if the accused were at specific locations during the blasts. These records could have helped either support or disprove the prosecution’s claims, but authorities erased them during the trial. The court expressed strong dissatisfaction. It said the deletion of such records raises serious doubts about the investigation’s transparency.

The state government told the Supreme Court that the High Court had misread key evidence presented by the prosecution.. However, the court observed that ATS officers failed to explain convincingly why the CDRs of certain key accused were unavailable. Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse called the deletion “alarming” and said it might be an attempt to conceal key evidence.

During the hearing, defence lawyers said the CDRs were vital to challenge the prosecution’s timeline of the accused’s movements. The court acknowledged the possibility that the data could have helped in proving the innocence of some of the accused. It also questioned the method adopted by the prosecution and the forensic process used to verify CDRs, highlighting discrepancies in standard procedure.

The court also pointed out that the ATS failed to request a backup of the CDRs from the service provider in time.This negligence, coupled with the lack of an explanation from ATS, prompted the bench to question whether the deletion was accidental or intentional. It added that a fair trial hinges on the prosecution’s duty to preserve evidence that may favour the defence.

The ATS led the probe into the train bombings that killed 189 people and injured over 800.The ATS claims it followed all proper procedures. However, the High Court’s repeated questions about missing evidence may lead to fresh scrutiny of the convictions and the overall legal process in one of India’s most high-profile terror cases. The case will continue in the next session. The bench said it will consider a retrial or legal relief if it finds signs of a miscarriage of justice.

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