Malegaon blast case: Court acquits all 7 accused including Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Purohit

Nearly 17 years after the Malegaon blast claimed six lives, a special court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, noting there was "no reliable and cogent evidence" against them.

No religion teaches violence, the court said. Terrorism has no religion, but the court cannot convict on mere perception, it added.

Special Judge A K Lahoti, assigned to hear cases of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here, flagged several loopholes in the prosecution's case and the investigation carried out, and said the accused persons deserved the benefit of doubt.

An explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in the town, located about 200 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008 killing six persons and injuring 101 others.

Besides Thakur and Purohit, the accused comprised Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.

Once the court acquitted the seven accused, they looked relieved with smiles on their faces. They thanked the judge and their lawyers.

The court while reading out the judgment said there was no "reliable and cogent" evidence to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

"Mere suspicion cannot take the place of real proof," the court said, adding that in the absence of any evidence, the accused persons deserve the benefit of doubt.

"The overall evidence does not inspire confidence in the court to convict the accused. There is no reliable and cogent evidence to warrant conviction," the judge said while reading out the judgment.

The court also said provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were not applicable to the case.

The court said it was not established that the motorbike used in the blast was registered in the name of Thakur, as claimed by the prosecution.

It has also not been established that the blast was carried out by the bomb allegedly planted on the bike, the court said.

Before the verdict was announced, the seven accused, all out on bail, arrived at the sessions court in south Mumbai which was barricaded with heavy security.

All the accused were charged for committing a terrorist act under provisions of the UAPA and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.

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 trial, which started in 2018, got over on April 19 this year.

The probe was initially carried out by the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which had pinned the blame on right wing extremists who were members of 'Abhinav Bharat' group.

The probe was later handed over to the NIA, which initially given a clean chit to Thakur, but the court had said there was prima facie evidence for her to face trial in the case.

In its final argument, the NIA submitted that the blast in Malegaon - a town with a sizable Muslim population - was orchestrated by the conspirators to terrorise a section of Muslim community, disrupt essential services, create communal tensions and threaten the state's internal security.

The blast took place during the holy month of Ramzan, just before the Navratri festival, the NIA pointed out, claiming the intention of the accused was to strike terror in a section of the Muslim community.

The charges comprised UAPA sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) and various IPC sections, including 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups).

During the trial, the prosecution presented 323 witnesses, of whom 37 turned hostile.