The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to urgently hear on July 24 the Maharashtra government’s plea challenging the Bombay High Court’s decision to acquit 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai agreed to list the matter for hearing on Thursday, after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta sought an urgent hearing on the state government’s special leave petition (SLP) and said that it was a “serious matter” requiring the top court’s consideration on “some important issues”.

The Maharashtra government earlier today moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court’s decision to acquit all 12 accused in the 7/11 train blasts case of 2006 on Monday.

The high court had said the prosecution “utterly failed” to prove the case and it was "hard to believe the accused committed the crime".

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP), Milind Deora had said that the Maharashtra government should appeal against the verdict.

"I appeal to the Maharashtra government they involve the best lawyers of the country in this matter as soon as possible. And they should appeal against the verdict of the Bombay High Court as soon as possible," Deora said.

Survivors of the terror attack called the high court ruling a "collective failure" of the government and investigation team, and said the Maharashtra government should move the Supreme Court and challenge the acquittal.

In a video interview to PTI hours after the HC verdict on Monday, Chirag Chauhan (40), a chartered accountant and one of the survivors of the 2006 bombings, described the acquittal ruling as a "collective failure of the government, investigation team and judicial team".

"I think the state government should go to the Supreme Court and demand fair justice or investigation. Those responsible (for the serial blasts) should be punished," he said.

As a 21-year-old chartered accountancy student, Chauhan was travelling on a local train on the Western Railway when it was rocked by a bomb blast between Khar and Santacruz stations on July 11, 2006.

He was paralysed due to spinal cord injury suffered in the terror attack and now uses a wheelchair.

Another survivor, Mahendra Pitale (52), a Western Railway employee, had said the government should explore all available legal options to ensure justice in the 19-year-old case.

The survivor maintained he did not "agree" with the HC ruling and was also disappointed that the verdict came 19 years after the bombings.

Hansraj Kanojia, another survivor of the terror attack, was upset with the HC verdict and said that the real culprits should be tried and handed severe punishment.

Kanojia, who lost his right leg in the tragedy, said he was travelling in a general compartment of a suburban train when an explosion ripped through an adjacent first class coach at Jogeshwari.

Of the 12 acquitted by the high court, five had been sentenced to death and seven to life imprisonment by the special court. One of the death row convicts died in 2021.

Abdul Wahid Shaikh was one the 13 accused in the blast case. He was released in 2015 by a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court as the police couldn’t find any proof for the charges against him.

He claimed that police tortured him to confess the charges.

"We were tortured, false statements were extracted, and fake recoveries were shown. All of this has now been proven wrong," he said to IANS after the high court verdict on Monday.