Man Acquitted In Mumbai Blasts Case Seeks ₹9 Crore Compensation For 9 Years Of Wrongful Imprisonment

A decade after his acquittal from the 2006 Mumbai Serial Bomb Blasts Case (7/11 Mumbai Blasts Case), Wahid Shaikh has now demanded Rs 9 crore for his 9 years of incarceration and also the atrocities and torture he was subjected to in the prison as an under-trial.

Wahid Shaikh said he has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC), National Minorities Commission (NMC) and also the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission (MSMC).

Shaikh, in a press note issued on X (formerly known as Twitter), stated that he ought to be paid Rs 9 crore as financial compensation for the nine years he spent in wrongful imprisonment and the custodial torture he endured.

In his note, Shaikh has pointed out that in 2006, he was 28 years old when he was "falsely implicated" by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA).

"For nine long years I remained behind bars until, on 11 September 2015, the Special Court acquitted me of all charges, finding no evidence against me. I walked out of prison, but the years I lost, the humiliation I faced, and the pain my family endured can never be undone. I lost the most important years of my youth, my liberty, and my dignity," Shaikh has stated.

In his note, Shaikh has stated that he was brutally tortured in custody, which has left him with lasting health issues, including glaucoma and chronic body pain. He further stated that his father died while he was in prison, and his mother's mental health collapsed, and that his wife was forced to struggle alone to raise his children.

"My children grew up with the stigma of being called a terrorists childrenand were deprived of their fathers presence in their formative years. My family faced extreme financial hardship, and I remain in debt of nearly ₹30 lakhs even today. My career and education were ruined, and I had to start my life from scratch after release, working as a school teacher while still carrying the stigma of wrongful branding," the note reads.

After Shaikh's acquittal, the State did not have any evidence with which it could have challenged the verdict and for this reason, even after a decade of his acquittal, the State has never been appealed against the same, the note states further.

"Yet, I did not ask for compensation for 10 long years. The moral reason was that my co-accused were convicted and sentenced to death and life imprisonment. It was not a pleasant moment for me to seek compensation when they were still languishing behind bars, and I feared that the State could have been more brutal towards them and taken revenge for my compensation claim. I decided to wait until all my co-accused were acquitted and proven innocent. Now that these acquittals have taken place, it is clear that the entire case was a forgery and therefore, my demand for compensation becomes even more legitimate and urgent. At this juncture, I believe it is fully justified to seek justice for myself," the letter reads.

The Bombay High Court, in its judgment acquitting 12 other accused, had noted that they were tortured in custody to extract confessions.