Judgment in 2008 Malegaon blast likely on July 31

Indian Express

08-05-2025

A special court in Mumbai is likely to pronounce its judgment in the Malegaon 2008 blast case on July 31. Special judge A K Lahoti said on Thursday that the records and evidence in the case were voluminous and he was in the process of writing the judgment.
The court had on April 19 reserved the case for orders and directed the accused to appear before it on May 8.
Seventeen years ago, on September 29, 2008, a blast at Malegaon town near Nashik killed six people and injured over 100 others. Seven accused, namely former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sudhakar Dhardwivedi, are on trial in the case, facing charges, including criminal conspiracy and murder under the Indian Penal Code and sections of the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Last month, judge Lahoti was given an extension till August 31, after he was initially proposed to be transferred in June in the annual general transfers of judges.
Initially, the probe into the Malegaon blast case was conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) led by Hemant Karkare, who was killed during the 26/11 terror attack. The ATS had arrested Thakur, claiming that her involvement was traced through an LML Freedom motorcycle, on which the bomb was allegedly planted by absconding accused Ramji Kalsangra.
The others were subsequently arrested by the ATS, which claimed their involvement in the conspiracy to carry out the blast, planned to allegedly cause communal disharmony. It claimed that conspiracy meetings were held in various locations where the blast was planned.
The ATS filed two chargesheets in the case, but in 2010, the probe was transferred to the newly formed federal agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The agency continued with its probe in the case till 2016 when a supplementary chargesheet was filed.
In its chargesheet, while the NIA aligned with the ATS probe, it differed on certain aspects. It recommended dropping the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused and also said that there is not enough evidence to continue proceedings against some of the accused, including Thakur.
The special court in 2017 dropped MCOCA; however, it refused to exonerate Thakur as an accused and said that she and six others would continue to face charges. The trial in the case began in December 2018. Since one of the accused, Dhardwivedi, contested that a blast had taken place, the prosecution examined over 100 witnesses who were injured or kin of the victims.
The hearing of evidence in the case was closed in September 2023 after 323 witnesses deposed, 34 of whom turned hostile. Some of the witnesses who turned hostile were to depose on crucial aspects of the case related to alleged conspiracy meetings.
Special public prosecutors (SPPs) Avinash Rasal and Anushree Rasal submitted that the prosecution had relied on witness statements and technical evidence like call data records and voice samples to prove its case. 'We examined 323 witnesses and technical evidence to bring on record the circumstances of the case. The delay in the trial proved to be a challenge as some witnesses turned hostile and over 30 passed away before the trial commenced,' SPP Rasal had said after the judgment was reserved.
The accused maintained their stand that they had nothing to do with the blast. They claimed ATS officers illegally detained them and forced witnesses to give statements against them.