Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind To Challenge NIA Court's Verdict On Malegaon Blast In Bombay HC
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind will challenge the recent verdict by Mumbai's NIA court in the Malegaon blast case by filing an appeal in the Bombay High Court in the first week of August. The legal move will be led by the organisation's legal cell under the leadership of its president, Maulana Arshad Madani. Jamiat has been representing the victims of the blast throughout the legal proceedings.
The development comes only a day after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused of the Malegaon blast that left six killed and over 100 injured.
The court, while reading out the judgment, said there was no 'reliable and cogent" evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The accused were booked under UAPA Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) and under 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).
As per the NIA court's order, the Maharashtra government must pay Rs 2 lakh to each deceased victim's family and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
The Malegaon blast case traces back to September 29, 2008, when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque at Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon, killing six people and injuring 95 others.
Initially, 11 individuals were named as accused in the investigation. However, the court eventually framed charges against seven of them.
Those charged include former MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (also known as Shankaracharya), and Sameer Kulkarni.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur expressed satisfaction after the court's verdict and said,"I have endured years of humiliation. I had to struggle repeatedly. Despite being innocent, I was branded with the stigma of guilt."
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August 01, 2025, 08:27 IST
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