Saurabh Mukherjee
Wahid Deen Mohammad Shaikh has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking compensation for nearly a decade of wrongful imprisonment in connection with the infamous July 7, 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts case.
Acquitted of all charges in 2015, Shaikh now demands redress for the grave injustice he and his family suffered following his arrest and prolonged incarceration. He remained in custody for almost nine years.
Shaikh, now 46, was among 13 individuals arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad soon after the bomb blasts, accused under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) of involvement in a Lashkar-e-Taiba-backed conspiracy.
Earlier, this year, the Bombay High Court acquitted all accused in July, after a protracted legal battle spanning 19 years.
Alongside the NHRC, Shaikh has filed his complaint with the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, and the National Minorities Commission.
In his plea, he highlighted the custodial torture he was subjected to and the enduring stigma of being labeled a “terrorist.” He has demanded Rs 9 crore in compensation, calculating a crore for every year he was wrongfully imprisoned.
At the time of his arrest, Shaikh was working as a teacher at a city-based school. After his release, he returned to teaching but also pursued further education, eventually earning a law degree and a PhD for his thesis on the history of prisons in India.
Post-acquittal, Shaikh established the Innocence Network, an organization campaigning for the release of others still languishing in jail in connection with the same case.
In his complaint, Shaikh detailed the severe custodial torture he endured, which has left him with chronic health problems such as glaucoma and persistent body pain, requiring ongoing medical care.
He also narrated the personal and financial hardships faced by his family, including the passing of his father while he was in jail, the deterioration of his mother’s mental health, and his wife’s struggle to raise their young children alone. His family incurred debts totalling nearly Rs 30 lakh to cover medical and living expenses during his incarceration.
“My children grew up with the stigma of being called 'a terrorist’s children' and were deprived of their father’s presence in their formative years. My family faced extreme financial hardship, and I remain in debt of nearly Rs 30 lakhs even today,” India Today quoted as saying.
His career and education were severely disrupted, forcing him to restart from scratch after his release.
“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,” he added.
“I lost the most important years of my youth, my liberty and my dignity. No money can return the nine years I lost, nor can it undo the pain inflicted on my loved ones. But compensation is a way of acknowledging that what happened to me was wrong, and ensuring that no other innocent person suffers the way I did,” Shaikh told The Wire.
He argued that his demand for Rs 9 crore should not be viewed as charity, but as “recognition of the grave injustice” he suffered.
“Just like me, these are all innocent men, but their fight continued for much longer than mine. So, I stayed focussed all along in advocating for their release. Now that they are all released, I wanted to seek justice for my wrongful arrest and torture,” he said.
He added, “But now that the others have also been acquitted, it is clear that the entire case was a forgery, and therefore, my demand for compensation becomes even more legitimate and urgent.”
The case is reminiscent of the 2018 Supreme Court judgment in the Nambi Narayanan espionage case, where the court ordered the Kerala government to pay the scientist a final settlement of Rs 1.3 crore after he was falsely implicated and jailed for 50 days.
Following the Bombay High Court’s acquittal of all accused, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the judgment. The apex court, however, refused to send them back to jail and stayed the high court’s ruling from being used as precedent in other MCOCA cases, pending the state’s appeal.
As the legal battle for compensation unfolds, Shaikh remains resolute in his fight for accountability and hopes his case will serve as a warning against the misuse of power and wrongful prosecution.
Acquitted of all charges in 2015, Shaikh now demands redress for the grave injustice he and his family suffered following his arrest and prolonged incarceration. He remained in custody for almost nine years.
Shaikh, now 46, was among 13 individuals arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad soon after the bomb blasts, accused under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) of involvement in a Lashkar-e-Taiba-backed conspiracy.
Earlier, this year, the Bombay High Court acquitted all accused in July, after a protracted legal battle spanning 19 years.
Alongside the NHRC, Shaikh has filed his complaint with the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, and the National Minorities Commission.
In his plea, he highlighted the custodial torture he was subjected to and the enduring stigma of being labeled a “terrorist.” He has demanded Rs 9 crore in compensation, calculating a crore for every year he was wrongfully imprisoned.
At the time of his arrest, Shaikh was working as a teacher at a city-based school. After his release, he returned to teaching but also pursued further education, eventually earning a law degree and a PhD for his thesis on the history of prisons in India.
Post-acquittal, Shaikh established the Innocence Network, an organization campaigning for the release of others still languishing in jail in connection with the same case.
In his complaint, Shaikh detailed the severe custodial torture he endured, which has left him with chronic health problems such as glaucoma and persistent body pain, requiring ongoing medical care.
He also narrated the personal and financial hardships faced by his family, including the passing of his father while he was in jail, the deterioration of his mother’s mental health, and his wife’s struggle to raise their young children alone. His family incurred debts totalling nearly Rs 30 lakh to cover medical and living expenses during his incarceration.
“My children grew up with the stigma of being called 'a terrorist’s children' and were deprived of their father’s presence in their formative years. My family faced extreme financial hardship, and I remain in debt of nearly Rs 30 lakhs even today,” India Today quoted as saying.
His career and education were severely disrupted, forcing him to restart from scratch after his release.
“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,” he added.
“I lost the most important years of my youth, my liberty and my dignity. No money can return the nine years I lost, nor can it undo the pain inflicted on my loved ones. But compensation is a way of acknowledging that what happened to me was wrong, and ensuring that no other innocent person suffers the way I did,” Shaikh told The Wire.
He argued that his demand for Rs 9 crore should not be viewed as charity, but as “recognition of the grave injustice” he suffered.
“Just like me, these are all innocent men, but their fight continued for much longer than mine. So, I stayed focussed all along in advocating for their release. Now that they are all released, I wanted to seek justice for my wrongful arrest and torture,” he said.
He added, “But now that the others have also been acquitted, it is clear that the entire case was a forgery, and therefore, my demand for compensation becomes even more legitimate and urgent.”
The case is reminiscent of the 2018 Supreme Court judgment in the Nambi Narayanan espionage case, where the court ordered the Kerala government to pay the scientist a final settlement of Rs 1.3 crore after he was falsely implicated and jailed for 50 days.
Following the Bombay High Court’s acquittal of all accused, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the judgment. The apex court, however, refused to send them back to jail and stayed the high court’s ruling from being used as precedent in other MCOCA cases, pending the state’s appeal.
As the legal battle for compensation unfolds, Shaikh remains resolute in his fight for accountability and hopes his case will serve as a warning against the misuse of power and wrongful prosecution.
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