28 Years In Jail: Allahabad HC Acquits Muslim Man In 1996 Bus Blast
The Allahabad High Court has acquitted Mohammad Ilyas, twenty-eight years after he was jailed for a deadly bus explosion that killed 18 passengers, ruling that the state failed to prove even the most basic allegations against him.
Ilyas was arrested at his home in Ludhiana in June 1997, a year after the blast.
In its detailed order dated November 10, a division bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra set aside his conviction, stating that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to establish his role in the 1996 bombing.
The judges said they were issuing the acquittal “with a heavy heart”, acknowledging that the explosion was a “terrorist act” that shocked the public and claimed 18 lives. But despite the seriousness of the crime, they found no legally admissible evidence that could justify keeping Ilyas in prison.
A key point in the judgment was the trial court’s reliance on a police-recorded audio cassette said to contain Ilyas’s confession, a piece of evidence that is clearly inadmissible under Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, which bars confessions made to police officers from being used in court.
“If this evidence is excluded, there is absolutely no evidence against the appellant,” the bench said.
The court also noted that several witnesses who were expected to support the prosecution’s case, including those linked to an alleged “extrajudicial confession”, turned hostile during the trial and did not back the State’s version.
On April 27, 1996, a bus left Delhi with 53 passengers, with more people boarding along the way. Minutes after crossing the Modinagar Police Station, a powerful explosion tore through the front of the bus. Ten people died on the spot, and 48 were injured.
Forensic teams later confirmed that RDX mixed with carbon had been placed beneath the driver’s seat and detonated using a remote switch.
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The prosecution claimed the attack was planned by Abdul Mateen, alias Iqbal, described as a Pakistani national and a district commander of Harkat-ul-Ansar, along with Ilyas and another accused, Tasleem. Ilyas was alleged to have been indoctrinated in Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2013, the trial court acquitted Tasleem but convicted Ilyas and Mateen under multiple sections of the IPC and the Explosive Substances Act, sentencing them to life imprisonment. The State never appealed Tasleem’s acquittal, and there is no clarity on whether Mateen filed an appeal.
After spending 28 years behind bars, Ilyas has now been cleared of all charges due to a lack of evidence.
