Bombay HC Issues Notices To NIA & Acquitted Accused In 2008 Malegaon Blast Case

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday issued notices to NIA  and those acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. 

Family members of victims of the blast have filed appeal challenging special court’s verdict acquitting 7 persons, including BJP MLA Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit. 

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad has kept the appeal for hearing after six weeks. 

About The Appeal

The appeal challenges a special court’s decision last year to acquit seven accused, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit. Six people were killed and over 100 injured in the blast that struck Malegaon in September 2008.

On September 29, 2008, an explosive strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon, killing six people and injuring 101. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially arrested 11 persons. A decade later, only seven faced trial, while others were discharged. The NIA took over the probe in 2011.

On July 31, special judge AK Lahoti acquitted all seven accused observing that there was no “reliable and cogent evidence” against the accused that proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The families, however, contended that the trial court wrongly acted as a “post office” and failed to test the prosecution’s case against missing or hostile evidence. 

The appeal claims that faulty investigation or procedural defects should not have resulted in acquittals, especially in a terror case. It also alleges that the NIA deliberately diluted the case. The petition points to former special prosecutor Rohini Salian’s public statement that she was pressured to go slow against the accused. Her replacement, the petition claims, lacked experience in terror trials.

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