Mumbai: In a major verdict that marks the end of a 17-year-long legal battle, a special court in Mumbai has acquitted all the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and former Army officer Lt. Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit.
The court, while delivering its judgment on Wednesday, said that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. Among those acquitted were five others who, like Thakur and Purohit, were already out on bail.
The verdict was delivered by Special Judge A.K. Lahoti, who ruled that the evidence presented could not conclusively link the accused to the bombing. He particularly noted that the motorcycle used in the blast could not be proven to belong to Pragya Thakur, weakening one of the key pillars of the prosecution’s case.
The blast occurred on September 29, 2008, in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, approximately 200 kilometers from Mumbai. The explosion, caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) strapped to a motorcycle, took place near a mosque and led to the death of six people and injuries to over 100 others.
All the accused were facing serious charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity, and voluntarily causing hurt.
With this verdict, the high-profile case — once at the center of heated political and ideological debates in India — comes to a legal close unless challenged in a higher court.
