‘Strong suspicion not same as proof': All 7 acquitted in '08 Malegaon blast

Time of India

4 days ago

Mumbai: Citing lack of "cogent, reliable, and acceptable evidence", a special NIA court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit.
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"The court of law is not supposed to proceed on popular or predominant public perceptions…the more serious the offence, higher the degree of proof needed for conviction," special judge A K Lahoti said. "Though there was strong suspicion of the accused, it cannot take place of legal proof."
Six of the seven accused had spent nine years in jail as undertrials till 2017 before getting bail in a case purportedly linked to a plot by right-wing extremists to terrorise the local Muslim population of Malegaon.
Six people died in the 2008 blast and 101 were injured.
The judgment, delivered after a legal process lasting 17 years, highlighted lapses in the probe conducted by the state's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before it was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The judge pointed to retractions by numerous witnesses and shortcomings such as mishandling of the crime scene and planting of evidence.
After the verdict, Thakur took a seat in the witness box. Addressing the judge, she said the verdict was a "victory for Hindutva." Breaking down, she said her life was destroyed by the humiliation and stigma of being labelled a terrorist for 17 years. "Jinhone bhi humaare saath galat kiya, prabhu unko kabhi kshama nahi karega (God will punish those who wronged us)"
Purohit, who arrived in court with military security, said the agencies are not wrong, but the people running them were.
Acquitting all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon case, a special NIA court focused on the failure of the prosecution to establish that a bomb was fitted inside a motorcycle. Based on the evidence, special judge A K Lahoti said, "there is a possibility of keeping a bomb from the outside on the same motorcycle, by hanging, etc." The judge also noted that it could not be proved that the bike on which the bomb was allegedly fitted belonged to accused Pragya Singh, that RDX was procured by Purohit from Kashmir, or that he assembled the bomb.
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The NIA judge said the conspiracy in the
case remained unproven due to absence of evidence and witnesses who would testify that a series of meetings were held by the organisation named Abhinav Bharat to plan the attack. ATS investigations focused on the alleged conspiracy by a group intent on avenging perceived atrocities against Hindus. Striking terror by orchestrating a bomb blast in Malegaon, a Muslim-dominated area, was the alleged objective.
However, the judge said to show that the conspiracy was finalised at Faridabad and Bhopal, the prosecution was not supported by "material witnesses" and the testimony of those who did was not "reliable and acceptable.
..other meetings which were held at Kolkata, Indore, Ujjain, Nashik and Pune, no acceptable evidence is present on these on record…witnesses have retracted from their earlier statements given to ATS.
Therefore neither conspiracy is proved nor meetings are proved," the judge said.
While it was alleged that Ajay Rahirkar, acting as treasurer of Abhinav Bharat, collected donations and distributed funds to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, who was a trustee, as well as to Sudhakar Dhar Diwedi and Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Purohit used the funds for personal expenses, including house construction and paying for LIC policies.
"But there was no evidence that the said amount was used for terrorist activities," the judge said.
The retraction of statements given by 39 of 323 prosecution witnesses to the ATS considerably weakened the case. "The testimony of prosecution witnesses is riddled with material inconsistencies and contradictions," the judge said.
Referring to procedural shortcomings, the judge criticised the handling of the crime scene.
No sketch was drawn and the spot was not immediately barricaded, leading to contamination. He pointed out that a mob gathered after the blast, vandalised vehicles, caused damage to a police chowki, and snatched firearms of cops, which led to a lathicharge, police opening fire and using of grenades. No fingerprints or DNA samples were collected at the spot.
Even material seized such as mobiles and laptops were not sealed as per due process.
The judgment also raised concerns about procedures adopted for collecting voice samples and intercepting mobile communication. Interceptions were not authorized in the specific period, rendering intercepted data unusable as evidence. It was noted that "narco analysis was carried out of the accused by ATS but not supported by documents."
The judge even raised concerns about planting of evidence. He recommended an inquiry into the actions of ATS officer Shekhar Bagade, whose presence at an accused's house was seen to be suspicious.
The judge said despite allegations that Purohit brought RDX from Kashmir, no evidence was presented to show its storage at his house or its use in assembling the bomb. Interestingly, the NIA supplementary chargesheet in May 2016 had accused the ATS of planting RDX traces to frame Purohit and, notably, gave a clean chit to Pragya Thakur and others.
However, the special court on Dec 27, 2017 ruled that seven accused, including Thakur and Purohit, would face trial under UAPA.
In conclusion, the judge on Thursday spoke of the "agony, frustration and trauma caused to society at large, more particularly to the family of victims by the fact that heinous crime of this nature has gone unpunished." "However law does not permit the court to convict the accused solely on the basis of moral conviction or suspicion," he said. The case will now continue against two absconding accused, Ramji Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange.