A special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit in the 2008 Malegaon blast case [National Investigation Agency v Pragyasingh Chandrapalsingh Thakur and Ors].

Special Judge AK Lahoti observed that the prosecution failed to bring any 'cogent evidence' and therefore, the Court has to extend the benefit of doubt to all accused.

"Upon comprehensive evaluation, the prosecution has failed to bring any cogent evidence and the evidence is riddled with inconsistencies," the Court concluded.

Terrorism has no religion but conviction cannot be based on moral grounds, the Court further said.

Regarding charges against Sadhvi Pragya, the Court observed that the prosecution failed to prove that the bike on which the bomb was allegedly strapped, belonged to her.

Serial number of the two-wheeler's chasis was not completely recovered by the forensic experts and therefore, the prosecution failed to prove that the bike in fact belonged to her, the judge held.

Moreover, Thakur had become a sanyasi and had left all material things two years before the blast, the Court further noted.

Regarding charges against Lt. Col Purohit, the Court found that there was no evidence to prove that he sourced RDX from Kashmir or that he assembled the bomb.

The Court also observed that although there were financial transactions between Purohit and another accused Ajay Rahirkar as officials of Abhinav Bharat, the money was used by Purohit only towards the construction of his house and LIC policy and not for any terrorist activity.

The Court also rejected prosecution's claim that there was conspiracy between the seven accused.

While the Court accepted the prosecution's arguments that six persons were killed in the blast, it refused to accept prosecution's argument that 101 persons were injured.

It accepted only injury to 95 persons as few of the medical certificates submitted to the Court were manipulated.

The Court also pointed out the defects in the prosecution's evidence owing to the police failure to secure the spot.

The Court also held that the victims of the blast are eligible for compensation.

Family members of the six deceased are eligible for a compensation of ₹2 lakh whereas those injured are eligible for a compensation of ₹50,000 each.

The Court passed the order after a lengthy trial in the case that spanned nearly 17 years.

The blasts had killed six people and injured over 100 in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.

The explosion occurred on September 29, 2008, at a Chowk in Malegaon. An improvised explosive device (IED) had been placed on an LML Freedom motorcycle in a locality with a large Muslim population during the month of Ramzan.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially investigated the case and arrested 12 persons, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sudhakar Dwivedi.

The ATS alleged that the blast was part of a conspiracy involving the group Abhinav Bharat. The investigating agency invoked provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

In 2010, the probe was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which filed a supplementary chargesheet in 2016.

The NIA recommended that MCOCA be dropped and stated that there was insufficient evidence against some of the accused, including Thakur.

However, in December 2017, the special court ruled that seven of the accused, Thakur, Purohit, Upadhyay, Kulkarni, Rahirkar, Chaturvedi, and Dwivedi, would face trial under the IPC, UAPA and Explosive Substances Act.

The Court also directed that two others, Rakesh Dhawde and Jagdish Mhatre, face trial only under the Arms Act in a separate proceeding, and three others were discharged due to lack of evidence as submitted by the NIA.

The trial began in December 2018. The prosecution examined 323 witnesses, 34 of whom turned hostile. More than 30 witnesses died before they could testify.

One of the accused, Sudhakar Dwivedi, argued that no blast occurred.

This prompted the examination of over 100 victims and injured witnesses by the prosecution.

Final arguments in the matter concluded in April 2024 and the court reserved the case for judgment on April 19.

Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal appeared for NIA

Advocate JP Mishra appeared for Pragya Singh Thakur and Ajay Rahirkar.

Advocates Pasbola, Divya Singh, Mrunal Bhide, Swaraj Sable and Pranav Gole appeared for Ramesh Upadhyay.

Advocates Phadke, Babar appeared for Lt Col. Purohit

Advocates Ranjeet Sangle and Chaitnya Kulkarni appeared for Sudhakar Dwivedi.

Advocates Punalekar, Salsingikar, Sachin Kanse, Ashish Kanojiya and Nair appeared for Sudhakar Chaturvedi.

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