Allahabad High Court Overturns 1996 Ghaziabad Bus Blast Conviction: Legal Analysis

Mohammad Ilyas was allegedly indoctrinated in Jammu and Kashmir before his involvement in the case.

The Allahabad High Court has overturned the conviction of Mohammad Ilyas in connection with the 1996 Modinagar-Ghaziabad bus bombing case, citing the prosecution's failure to substantiate charges against him.

Justices Siddharth and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, forming a two-judge bench, invalidated the conviction, noting that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove its allegations.

The court determined that the alleged confessional statement obtained by police officers was inadmissible under Section 25 of the Evidence Act.

In its November 10 ruling, the court mentioned it was issuing the acquittal order "with a heavy heart" as the "terrorist" attack had deeply disturbed society, resulting in 18 fatalities.

"The prosecution has miserably failed to prove the charges that the appellant conspired to plant a bomb along with the co-accused to create a bomb explosion in the bus, which resulted in a large number of loss of lives and injuries to the passengers and damage to public property, i.e. this bus. The findings of conviction recorded by the trial court and the sentence awarded to the appellant are accordingly liable to be set aside," stated the court.

The bench highlighted that the trial court committed a "great legal error" by relying on an audio cassette containing the appellant's recorded confession made in police presence.

"If this evidence is excluded, there is absolutely no evidence against the appellant in support of the charge," the court observed.

"The witnesses of the extrajudicial confession of the appellant and co-accused regarding their involvement in the offence have turned hostile during the trial and not supported the prosecution's case," the bench added.

The court emphasized that the audio-recorded confessional statement allegedly made by Ilyas before a police officer was inadmissible as evidence.

"Therefore, in the present case, the confession recorded by the Senior Police Officer will not be permitted to be proved under law due to an embargo created by Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872," it clarified.

Section 25 of the Evidence Act explicitly states that confessions made to police officers cannot be used as evidence against individuals accused of any offense.

The incident occurred on April 27, 1996, when a bus departed from Delhi at 3:55 pm carrying approximately 53 passengers.

An additional 14 passengers boarded the vehicle during its journey.

At around 5 pm, shortly after passing Modinagar Police Station in Ghaziabad, a powerful explosion detonated in the front section of the bus, killing 10 people instantly and wounding 48 others.

Forensic analysis determined that RDX mixed with carbon had been placed beneath the driver's seat, with the explosion triggered remotely.

According to the prosecution, the attack was carried out by Abdul Mateen (alias Iqbal), a Pakistani national and alleged district commander of Harkat-ul-Ansar, in conspiracy with Mohammad Ilyas and Tasleem.

The prosecution claimed Ilyas had been indoctrinated in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2013, while the trial court acquitted Tasleem, it convicted both Ilyas and Abdul Mateen under various sections of the IPC and the Explosive Substances Act.

Both received life imprisonment sentences along with multiple terms of rigorous imprisonment and financial penalties.

No appeal was filed by the state against Tasleem's acquittal, and information regarding whether Abdul Mateen filed an appeal remains unavailable.