Mumbai, Maharashtra – Nearly seventeen years after the devastating Malegaon blast, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit. The blast, which occurred on September 29, 2008, in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon, Maharashtra, resulted in six deaths and injured over a hundred people.
Special judge A.K. Lahoti, while delivering the verdict, cited a lack of “reliable and cogent” evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, stating that the accused deserved the benefit of doubt. The court emphasized that “terrorism has no religion because no religion can advocate violence,” highlighting that a court cannot convict someone based solely on moral perception without convincing evidence.
Key Observations by the Court
The court made several critical observations regarding the prosecution’s case:
- While a blast indeed occurred, the prosecution failed to prove that a bomb was planted on the recovered motorcycle.
- It was noted that the crime scene was not properly barricaded, leading to contamination of evidence.
- Discrepancies were found in the number of injured victims, with the court determining the figure to be 95, not 101, and noting manipulation in some medical certificates.
- The court found no evidence to link Lt. Col. Purohit to the storage or sourcing of RDX.
- Regarding Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the court observed that it was not proven that the motorcycle used in the blast belonged to her, and noted that she had renounced material possessions and become a ‘sanyasi’ two years before the blast.
- The court also ruled that the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, could not be invoked due to defective sanction orders and other procedural lapses.
- On the alleged role of the Abhinav Bharat organization, the court stated there was no material evidence to support the prosecution’s claims that its funds were used for terror activities.
Background of the Case
The 2008 Malegaon blast occurred near a mosque in a predominantly Muslim area during the holy month of Ramadan, just before the Hindu festival of Navratri. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially investigated the case, alleging that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) placed on an LML Freedom motorcycle caused the explosion. The ATS claimed the motorcycle belonged to Pragya Singh Thakur and that Purohit had brought RDX.
The investigation was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011. While the NIA later filed a supplementary chargesheet in 2016, contradicting some of the ATS findings and seeking to drop charges against some accused (including Thakur), the special court in 2017 overruled the NIA’s “clean chit” and proceeded with charges under UAPA and IPC sections including murder and criminal conspiracy, though charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999, were dropped.
The trial formally commenced in 2018 and concluded on April 19, 2025. During the trial, the prosecution presented 323 witnesses, of whom 37 turned hostile.
Compensation for Victims
The court has ordered the government to provide Rs 2 lakh in compensation to the families of the six individuals killed in the blast and Rs 50,000 to each of the injured victims.
The verdict, delivered after nearly 17 years, has been met with varied reactions from political figures and victims’ families, with the latter indicating their intent to appeal the acquittal.
