A special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, citing the prosecution’s failure to provide cogent and reliable evidence.
Those acquitted include former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major (Retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sudhakar Dhardwivedi. All had faced charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Special Judge A K Lahoti stated that while the prosecution proved the blast occurred, it failed to establish how the bomb was planted in the motorcycle involved. The court further observed that conspiracy and meetings among the accused could not be proved, and both sanction orders to invoke UAPA were defective.
“There might be strong suspicion against the accused, but it is not sufficient to punish them,” the court said. The judge also ordered government compensation of ₹2 lakh for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for those injured in the blast.
The bombing on September 29, 2008, took place in Malegaon, around 100 km from Nashik, Maharashtra, during Ramzan. It claimed six lives and injured about 100 individuals, striking a locality with a significant Muslim population.
The detailed court order is awaited, but today’s verdict marks the end of a long-drawn trial that had implications across political and security circles.
