After a special court acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought legal opinions before appealing against the verdict.
On July 31, Special Judge A K Lahoti said that while it was proven that a bomb blast had taken place, the prosecution failed to provide reliable evidence to prove that the seven accused were behind it.
“I am fully aware of the degree of agony, frustration and trauma caused to society at large, more particularly the family of victims, by the fact that (a) heinous crime of this nature has gone unpunished. However, the law does not permit the court to convict the accused solely on the basis of moral conviction or suspicion,” Special Judge Lahoti had said.
“… Though there was strong suspicion on the accused, it cannot take the place of legal proof,” the court had said.
An NIA official said that currently they are going through the Malegaon blast case judgment and have sought legal opinion. “We are making a list (of points from the verdict) and discussing with the legal experts before moving a higher court for filing an appeal against the judgment,” the official said.
“As per procedure, the usual period of 30 days is given for filing an appeal, but if there is a substantial question of law then courts condone the delay,” the official said, when asked about the delay in filing an appeal.
On September 29, 2008, in Malegaon, about 100 km northeast of Nashik in Maharashtra, an explosion killed six and injured around 100 others.
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Apart from Thakur and Purohit, the other accused include Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sudhakar Dhardwivedi. They were cleared of all charges, including criminal conspiracy and murder under the IPC and sections of the UAPA.
Most of the accused were out on bail from 2017, after being arrested in 2008 by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). Rahirkar was granted bail in 2011 by the Bombay High Court with the NIA taking over the probe in 2016.
Following the verdict, Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal, representing the NIA, had said that a decision on filing an appeal will be taken after studying the judgment.
