The Supreme Court has acquitted 11 accused in the twin Surat bomb blast cases in Gujarat and ordered their release.
One person died and 49 were injured in the blasts that occurred on January 28, 1993, at Mini Hira Bazar and on April 22, 1993, at the Surat railway station.
The Gujarat police had alleged that on account of the riots and damage suffered by the Muslims following the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992, the accused persons nurtured a feeling that the government and the police would not be able to protect their community. The prosecution’s case was that the twin blasts were an act of retaliation against the majority community.
A Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and C. Nagappan, allowing appeals from the 11 accused who were awarded 10 to 20 years’ sentence by the TADA court, acquitted them holding that the prosecution had not been able to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
