For 11 long years, six innocent men languished in jail charged with a heinous crime that they never committed. The trial court found them guilty for hatching the conspiracy of the attack on Akshardham Temple in Gujarat in 2002.

Gulzar Azmi, secretary, legal cell, Jamiat e Ulema Maharashtra. Pic/Sameer Mmarkande

While two were given death penalty, the other four were imprisoned for 10 years and life imprisonment. Even the High Court upheld the judgment.

It was here that the families of the accused approached the Jamiat e Ulema Maharashtra (Arshad Madani) and challenged the judgement in the Supreme Court.