Malegaon Blast Case Closed: What the NIA Court Said and What Comes Next

Malegaon Blast Case Closed: In a landmark verdict, the special NIA court in Mumbai acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit. The case, which had become a focal point in national debates over 'saffron terrorism', concluded after nearly 17 years.

On September 29, 2008, a bomb tied to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in Malegaon, killing six people and injuring over 100. The incident led to arrests of several individuals allegedly connected to right-wing groups. However, the court found several flaws in the investigation and prosecution.

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Special Judge A.K. Lahoti stated that the evidence presented was not strong enough to convict the accused. He emphasized that assumptions and moral judgments are not a substitute for concrete proof in a court of law. “Terrorism has no religion,” the judge noted in his verdict, reiterating the need for fair and unbiased judicial scrutiny.

The court found discrepancies in the handling of forensic evidence, the collection of crime scene data, and even questioned the validity of the UAPA approval applied in the case. It ruled that the link between the accused and the motorcycle used in the blast could not be legally established. Even the claim that the bike was registered in Sadhvi Pragya’s name couldn’t be proven beyond doubt.

Compensation for Victims Announced

The court announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh for each of the six deceased victims and ₹50,000 for the injured, whose actual count, the court said, stood at 95—not 101 as earlier claimed.

Families of Victims to Challenge Verdict

Shahid Nadeem, lawyer for the victims’ families, said that while the explosion was acknowledged, justice hasn’t been delivered. “We will appeal in the High Court independently,” he said.

Reactions from the Acquitted

Following the verdict, Pragya Thakur said the false accusations ruined her life and tarnished the image of saffron and Hindutva. She stated, “I lived the life of a sadhu, but I was falsely implicated. Today, saffron has been vindicated.”

Lt. Col. Purohit, who spent years in custody, thanked the system for restoring his faith. “I don’t blame institutions, only the individuals who misused them,” he said.

List of Accused

The acquitted included:

• Pragya Singh Thakur
• Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit
• Major (Retd) Ramesh Upadhyay
• Ajay Rahirkar
• Sudhakar Dwivedi
• Sudhakar Chaturvedi
• Sameer Kulkarni

They were earlier charged under the UAPA, Arms Act, and IPC sections for alleged terrorism-related activities.

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