Six family members of people who died in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast have filed an appeal with the Bombay High Court, challenging a special court's judgement that acquitted the seven accused, including former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit.
The appeal claims that a faulty investigation or defects in the probe cannot be grounds for acquitting the accused. It also contends that conspiracies are hatched in secrecy, so direct evidence of them is not to be expected.
The petitioners, Nisar Ahmed Sayyed Bilal and five others, have argued that the special NIA court's order of July 31, which acquitted the seven accused, was wrong and flawed in law and should therefore be quashed. According to the High Court's website, the appeal, filed on Monday by advocate Mateen Shaikh, is likely to be heard by a division bench led by Justice AS Gadkari on September 15.
The explosion, caused by an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle, occurred near a mosque in Malegaon town, in Maharashtra's Nashik district, on September 29, 2008. The blast killed six people and injured 101 others.
The petitioners' appeal states that a trial court judge should not act as a "postman or mute spectator" in a criminal trial. It argues that when the prosecution fails to present facts, the court can ask questions and/or summon witnesses. "The trial court has unfortunately acted as a mere post-office and allowed a deficient prosecution to benefit the accused," the appeal said.
It also highlighted that the previous special public prosecutor, Rohini Salian, had alleged pressure from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to go slow on the case, after which a new prosecutor was appointed. The appeal also raised concerns about the way the NIA had conducted the probe and trial, and requested that the accused be convicted.
The appeal further claimed that the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had, by arresting the seven individuals, uncovered a large conspiracy. It also noted that there have been no blasts in areas with a significant minority population since then. It alleged that the NIA had diluted the accusations against the accused after taking over the case.
The appeal also claims that the special court was wrong to conclude that the motorcycle used in the blast was not owned by Thakur and that the RDX used was not procured by Purohit. It stated that there was enough evidence to show that the accused had conspired to carry out the blast, and that the special court had erred in its judgement that there was only a strong suspicion against the accused and not enough evidence to convict them.
The special court's judgement had stated that mere suspicion cannot replace real proof and that there was no "reliable and cogent evidence" to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Special Judge AK Lahoti had flagged several loopholes in the prosecution's case and investigation, stating that the accused deserved the benefit of the doubt.
The prosecution's case was that the blast was carried out by right-wing extremists with the intention of terrorising the Muslim community in the communally sensitive Malegaon town. In addition to Thakur and Purohit, the accused included Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni.
Also read: Malegaon blast case: Court strikes off bailable warrant against MP Pragya Thakur
Follow us
