Overview
- The Division Bench of Justices Siddharth and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra issued a 51-page order on November 10, recorded as an acquittal made "with heavy heart."
- The court held that Section 25 of the Evidence Act barred the audio confession and that TADA’s Section 15 exception did not apply because the law had lapsed before the 1996 offence.
- The tape recorder used for the alleged confession was not produced, witnesses to purported extrajudicial confessions turned hostile, and no passenger could identify the bomber.
- Forensic findings from the April 27, 1996 explosion showed RDX mixed with carbon placed under the driver’s seat and a remote-triggered blast that killed 18 and injured about 48.
- The High Court set aside the 2013 conviction that sentenced Ilyas and Abdul Mateen to life, noted Tasleem’s earlier acquittal, and ordered Ilyas’s release unless required in another case.