The Bombay High Court has once again slammed the police practice of using "copy-paste" confessional and witness statements, calling it a "dangerous trend" that undermines justice. The issue took center stage in a landmark ruling on Monday, where the court acquitted all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, citing fabricated and identical confessions.

The court's 671-page judgment revealed a disturbing pattern: confessional statements from multiple accused contained verbatim questions and answers, as if "copied" from a single script. "Two people may share a narrative, but identical wording and sequence are highly improbable," Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak noted, presenting a comparative chart to highlight the similarities.

The court concluded that these statements lacked credibility, reliability, and truthfulness, strengthening the defense's claim that signatures were forcibly obtained by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officers.

This isn't the first time the High Court has raised alarms. In May and June 2025, it flagged similar issues in two separate cases, urging the Maharashtra government to issue guidelines to curb this "menace." The court criticized the police for recycling witness statements, even in serious cases, eroding trust in the judicial process.

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In the 2006 train blasts case, the defense had long argued that confessions were extracted under duress, with accusations of torture, threats, and forced signatures by Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) and ATS officers. The accused later retracted their statements, claiming they were coerced.

However, the 2015 trial court dismissed these allegations as "baseless" and upheld the confessions' authenticity, ignoring claims of torture and procedural irregularities, such as statements recorded before police officers instead of magistrates.

The High Court's recent verdict overturned the trial court's findings, emphasizing that the identical portions in the confessions "speak volumes" about their fabrication. The court also noted the accused's complaints of third-degree torture and forced signatures, which were ignored by the trial court as mere "aspersions" on judicial officers.

The ruling has sparked renewed calls for reforming police practices. The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to address this systemic issue, warning that such practices jeopardize fair trials. As the state grapples with this judicial rebuke, questions loom over the integrity of investigative processes and the urgent need for accountability.

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