A special anti-terrorism court in Mumbai, India found six men guilty yesterday [Indian Express report] for the 1993 terrorist bombings in Mumbai [BBC backgrounder], then called Bombay, where almost 300 people were killed and hundreds more were injured. The special court was formed under the order of the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act(TADA) [official text], a controversial law that has allegedly led to the violation of human rights. The court has scheduled a proceeding for later this month to determine the sentences for the bombers. All of the individuals were charged with waging war against the nation, and five of the accused were convicted under both the TADA and for conspiracy while the sixth was found guilty only under the TADA.

Mumbai has been dealing with the aftermath of the 1993 bombings and the subsequent attacks in 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2011 for almost a quarter of a century. Earlier this year Pakistan authorities placed militant leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed under house arrest [JURIST report] for his connection to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Saeed has been accused of orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks [CNN backgrounder]. In 2009 three individuals who were convicted of the 2003 bombings were sentenced to death [JURIST report]. Later that year the trial of the only gunmen to have survived the 2008 mass shooting at a hotel continued even though the man confessed his guilt [JURIST report] in the midst of trial proceedings. The government responded to the slew of terrorist bombings by reconsidering an anti-terror law that had been previously repealed [JURIST report] and by creating special courts like the one involved with TADA to speed up the judicial process [JURIST report].