The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld a special court verdict in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, confirming death sentences to 38 operatives of Indian Mujahideen and life imprisonment to 11 others, directing the government to compensate the families of victims, including 56 people who lost their lives.

The special court's February 2022 order marked the first time that so many convicts had been handed down the death sentence by any court at one go.

The convicts include Safdar Nagori, former leader of the banned outfit Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and his associates. A lawyer representing the convicts said they would challenge the HC's order after studying the judgment.

A Division Bench of Justices AY Kogje and Samir Dave directed the Gujarat Government to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed in the serial blasts and Rs 5 lakh to grievously injured people. The Bench rejected all appeals against the special court’s order and confirmed the sentences awarded to the members of the terror outfit.

On July 26, 2008, a series of 21 bomb blasts ripped through different parts of Ahmedabad within 70 minutes, killing 56 people and injuring more than 200. Explosions also struck hospitals where victims from other blast sites were rushed for treatment, marking the first known instance of hospitals being targeted in such an attack.

Seventy-eight persons were put on trial before the special court, of whom 49 were convicted in February 2022. The trial was conducted after merging 35 police cases, including 20 FIRs registered in Ahmedabad for the 21 blasts and 15 in Surat, where bombs planted by the terrorists failed to explode.

Among those convicted were former SIMI leader Nagori and his associates from 11 states, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. All the convicts challenged the special court's verdict before the high court, while the Gujarat Government sought confirmation of the death sentences.

Special Public Prosecutor Amit Patel said the prosecution had presented all evidence, including material related to the larger conspiracy, before the high court.

"The trial court's order has been confirmed. The death penalty awarded to 38 convicts has been upheld," Patel told reporters, adding that he would comment on the finer legal aspects after the detailed judgment is uploaded.

He said the case had been heard extensively for more than one-and-a-half years and was taken up on a day-to-day basis since March 2025, with full-day hearings from January this year before the verdict was delivered.

Patel also said the court directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed and Rs 5 lakh to the injured before March 30, 2027.

This was the first time that such a large number of convicts had been handed the death sentence by any court in one go.

In January 1998, a TADA court in Tamil Nadu sentenced to death all 26 convicts in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. PTI