Wrongfully jailed in Mumbai train blasts case, Wahid seeks ₹9 cr compensation

Wahid Shaikh, who was cleared of all charges in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case by a trial court in 2015, has sought compensation of ₹9 crore for spending nine years in jail despite being innocent.

In a letter made public on Friday, he described the demand as an acknowledgement of the serious injustice done to him and his family, and as a necessary step to ensure accountability.

He pointed out that although he was eventually released, the time he lost, the humiliation he endured, and the suffering of his family could never be reversed.

Shaikh maintained that he had been subjected to custodial torture, which, he said, resulted in long-term health problems such as glaucoma and persistent pain. He also mentioned that his father passed away while he was behind bars, his mother’s mental health deteriorated, and his wife had to manage the household and children alone.

Shaikh said that his education and career had been destroyed during his imprisonment and that he was now burdened with debts of nearly ₹30 lakh.

He noted that the government had not appealed against his acquittal since it lacked evidence to support the charges against him.

According to him, he had refrained from seeking compensation earlier because he was worried that doing so might worsen the plight of other accused in the case, many of whom were handed death or life sentences before being acquitted later. He explained that he feared the state could retaliate against them if he pressed his claim at that time.

Now that those acquittals have taken place, Shaikh argued, it was clear the case had been a forgery. He said this made his demand for compensation both legitimate and urgent, adding that at this stage he considered it entirely justified to seek justice for himself, Scroll.in reported.

Shaikh was one of 13 men arrested by the Maharashtra Police in 2006 in connection with the July 11 serial train blasts in Mumbai, in which seven explosions on the Western Railway line claimed 189 lives and injured 824 people.

Investigators had accused him of sheltering Pakistani militants in his home, who, along with 13 Indian co-conspirators, were alleged to have planted the bombs in local trains.

In September 2015, after nearly nine years of trial, a special court in Mumbai convicted 12 of the 13 accused, while acquitting Shaikh on the grounds that the charges against him had no substance.

More recently, on July 21 this year, the Bombay High Court overturned the convictions of the 12 men, ruling that the prosecution had completely failed to prove their involvement. Just three days later, however, the Supreme Court put a stay on that acquittal after the Maharashtra government appealed the decision, though it permitted the men to remain free while the case continued.