The Bombay High Court on Monday quashed the conviction of 12 persons in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case and acquitted them, noting the prosecution has "utterly failed" to prove the case against them.
The judgment comes 19 years after the terror attack that shook the city's Western Railway network, resulting in the loss of over 180 lives and leaving several others injured.
A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak said the evidence relied by the prosecution was not conclusive to convict the accused persons.
"The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence their conviction is quashed and set aside," the HC said.
The bench said it refuses to confirm the death penalty imposed on five of the convicts and also the life imprisonment on the remaining seven, and acquitted them.
The court said the accused shall be released from jail forthwith if not wanted in any other case.
A special court in 2015 convicted the 12 persons in the case, of whom five were sentenced to death and the remaining seven were given life imprisonment.
After the HC's judgment was pronounced on Monday, the convicts, who were produced before the court via video conference from various jails across the state, thanked their lawyers.
On July 11, 2006, seven blasts ripped through Mumbai local trains at various locations on the western line, killing more than 180 persons and injuring several others.