In his complaint to the NHRC, Shaikh emphasized the profound impact of his nine-year imprisonment on his personal and professional life. He explained that his delayed compensation claim was intentional, aiming to ensure that all co-accused in the 7/11 case, who were also innocent, receive similar redress. Shaikh’s demand aligns with the Bombay High Court’s recent judgment, which reaffirmed the case’s baselessness and the violation of fundamental human rights over nearly two decades.

“The wrongful imprisonment caused a severe nine-year gap in my professional and personal life. My career, education and personal development were destroyed. The stigma of being falsely branded a ‘terrorist’ continues to haunt me even after acquittal.”he wrote to NHRC

‘It was not a pleasant moment for me to seek compensation when they were still languishing behind bars, and I feared that the State could have been more brutal towards them and taken revenge for my compensation claim. I decided to wait until all my co-accused were acquitted and proven innocent. Now that these acquittals have taken place, it is clear that the entire case was a forgery, and therefore, my demand for compensation becomes even more legitimate and urgent. At this juncture, I believe it is fully justified to seek justice for myself. ‘ he said in a press note

Shaikh reiterated his long-standing position that those wrongfully incarcerated should be granted at least ₹1 crore for each year of imprisonment, though he added that no amount could ever truly compensate for the years lost.

Referring to the recent Bombay High Court judgment, Shaikh said it reaffirmed what he and others have maintained for years — that the case was “entirely bogus” and that their fundamental human rights had been gravely violated for nearly two decades.

Muhammad Aamir Khan, who spent 14 years in prison for being accused of involvement in bomb blasts in the Delhi-NCR region. Before being acquitted of all charges in 2012, told This reporter that he has continued to work on the issue of wrongful incarceration since his release. “We have even met the President regarding compensation. He expressed concern, but nothing concrete has materialized yet. Still, I remain optimistic,” he said.

Highlighting what he sees as a stark injustice,  he pointed out that in India, “militants who surrender their arms are often rehabilitated and compensated. Those who openly admit to killings or bombings are offered state support. But people who are wrongfully accused of terrorism, who lose years of their lives in jail, are almost never compensated.”

In 2014, the NHRC awarded Khan ₹5 lakh in compensation for his wrongful incarceration; he received it in 2018.

India currently lacks a statutory framework mandating compensation for individuals wrongfully accused and incarcerated, including in terrorism-related cases. Over the years, civil society organizations, legal experts, and the Law Commission of India have advocated for such a framework to ensure that victims of wrongful imprisonment receive recognition, financial relief, and a formal acknowledgment of the state’s error. Compensation in these cases serves as both an apology and a step toward accountability, acknowledging the grave injustice suffered by individuals and their families.

The Law Commission of India’s Report No. 277 (2018). highlights the absence of a statutory framework for compensating victims of wrongful prosecution and incarceration. It underscores the severe social, psychological, and economic consequences endured by the wrongfully accused, including loss of liberty, livelihood, and reputation. Drawing on international practices and findings from the Innocent People’s Tribunal, the report recommends a legal mechanism providing both monetary and non-monetary relief, reflecting the duration of detention and personal losses, along with specialized courts to assess compensation claims efficiently.Civil society initiatives have complemented these efforts. Notably, the Innocent Network’s People’s Tribunal systematically examined cases of individuals acquitted in terrorism-related cases and highlighted the urgent need for state recognition and redress.

‘I’m quite hopeful I would be compensated for my lost years , especially after this case has been proven to be bogus by the Bombay High Court’, said Shaikh with a smile.

Osama Rawal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Elphinstone College and has been actively involved in people’s movements across Maharashtra. He is a researcher and activist with the Innocence Network—an alliance of activists, lawyers, and civil society groups dedicated to securing justice for individuals wrongfully convicted, especially in terrorism-related cases

Courtesy: CounterCurrents

The post Abdul Wahid Shaikh, acquitted in 7/11 Mumbai train blast case, demands ₹9 crore as Compensation for Wrongful Incarceration appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Abdul Wahid Shaikh, was a teacher in a Mumbai school when he was wrongly imprisoned in the Mumbai train bomb blasts case on July 11, 2006. Although police could find no evidence against him, he was released from jail in 2015, while 12 fellow-accused in the case remain imprisoned to this day.

Through his book ‘Begunah Kaidi’ (Innocent Prisoner) – and recent movie ‘Haemolymph’ – Wahid spoke about how his refusal to sign a false confessional statement proved his greatest strength. The beginning of his book and movie also talk about his interaction with a 1993 bomb blast accused. Shocking though not surprising is the manner in which co-accused were tortured and pressured to sign statements that were used against them in court. Wahid himself is recently dedicated to educating people about their rights as accused. His book is an important stepping stone in this direction.

However, many other questions remain. What did he do during his years in prison? How did he fight the case and what effect did it have on him? When and how did he resolve to write his book? Most importantly, what kept him going through this ordeal?

In this interview with Sabrang India, Wahid talks about his life in jail, how he continued his post-graduation and law-studies behind bars and the treatment of the police towards accused. While discussing the prevalence of police-raj in India, that too with a distinct anti-minority (Muslim) bias, Wahid also talks about how unconstitutional laws such as UAPA, MCOCA, POTA and TADA support such a partisan regime. He also talks about his deep concerns regarding the manner in which the criminal justice system works. Prison manuals, rules are just never implemented, they remain on paper for the prisoner who suffers the indignity of unregulated prison assaults.

With great stoicism and eloquence, Wahid talks about his life as an innocent prisoner.

Wahid’s well-documented book, published by Pharos Media in 2021, has been preceded by another searing account of torture of a Muslim cleric, Mufti Abdul Qayum Mansuri from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, who suffered brutality when wrongly accused and convicted in the infamous Akshardham case (2003), Gujarat. He and five others were finally released 9 years later, on May 16, 2016 when the Supreme Court, in a scathing judgement pulled up the investigation and prosecution for lack of basic professional standards. “ The story of the prosecution crumbles at every juncture,” the SC had then observed. Former DG Vanzara himself an accused in the Sohrabuddin and Ishrat Jahan encounters that shook the state in the mid-2000s guided the (mis)conduct vis a vis Mufri Abdul Qayum and others under the now repealed POTA law.

In Innocent Prisoner, 500 pages, well written and direct, pen the story of not just the 7/11 train blasts case of 2006 and how persons (apart from Abdul Wahid Shaikh) still remain incarcerated, but do so with the express purpose of wanting to inform other innocent accused from the minority Muslim community, who with some legal knowledge could resist such false and mala fide incarceration. In that sense, the book is a treatise in simple legal education, a tutorial that even our police and judiciary desperately need. Special thanks are given by the writer to Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind for help battling such cases be the case of the Akshardham (2003) falsely accused or the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts. Indians should be concerned about the fact that we still do not know the criminals who were responsible behind these mass public outrages. Worse even is the fact that the policemen, named in both instances of grossly illegal acts, were not prosecuted or punished. [1]

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The post No innocent should ever be jailed, my life is dedicated to get other innocents released: Abdul Wahid Shaikh appeared first on SabrangIndia.