Court acquits all 7 accused in Malegaon blast case, cites lack of reliable evidence

Nearly 17 years after a blast claimed six lives and injured over 100 in Maharashtra town of Malegaon, a special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all the seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, citing lack of “reliable and cogent” evidence.

Delivering a scathing indictment of the prosecution, a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) observed that “mere suspicion could not take the place of real proof”, and that the accused deserved the benefit of the doubt.

The court also held that the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was not applicable in this case, which had long been held up as a reference in the controversial debate around “saffron terror”. “Terrorism has no religion… The court cannot convict on mere perception. The overall evidence does not inspire confidence to convict the accused. There is no reliable and cogent evidence to warrant conviction,” ruled Special Judge AK Lahoti.

The September 29, 2008, blast occurred when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, about 200 km from Mumbai, killing six persons and injuring 101 during the holy month of Ramzan.

The case witnessed multiple turns in investigation over the years—from the Maharashtra ATS to the CBI and finally the NIA—and became politically charged due to the alleged involvement of right-wing activists and serving military officers.

The prosecution’s claim was that the blast was orchestrated by right wing extremists with an intention to terrorise the local Muslim community. The NIA, which conducted the probe into the case, had sought “commensurate punishment” for the accused.

The court noted that the prosecution failed to conclusively prove that the motorcycle used in the blast was registered in Pragya Thakur’s name or that the bomb was planted on it. “It has not been established that the blast was carried out by the bomb allegedly planted on the motorbike,” the court said.

Outside the courtroom, the mood among the acquitted was one of relief and vindication. Pragya, who spent nine years behind bars before being elected to Parliament in 2019, declared, “This is not just my victory, but of the bhagwa (saffron).”

Lt Col Purohit and the other accused—Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni—also expressed gratitude to the court and their legal teams.

The court also ordered the government to pay Rs 2 lakh each to families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to those injured.