Special Court’s verdict on July 31
- Quaid Najmi
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
Mumbai: Almost 17 years after a bomb blast shook up the communally sensitive Malegaon town in Nashik, a Special Court here is scheduled to deliver its verdict on July 31, in the sensational case loaded with political overtones.
NIA Special Judge A. K. Lahoti announced that he will pronounce the judgement on July 31, when all the accused in the case have been ordered to remain present in the Special Court.
Ace criminal lawyer J. P. Mishra, representing one of the prime accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur said that today (May 8) was the final day when all those in the dock were asked to mark their presence before the Special Court.
“The Special Court said it needs time to study the huge volume of documents submitted on record during the entire trial. The arguments alone went on for some six months,” Mishra told ‘The Perfect Voice’, emerging from the hearing.
The Special Judge had completed the final hearing on April 19 and had summoned all the accused to remain present in the Special Court today, where he disclosed the date of the day of judgement, said Adv. Mishra.
The explosion
The explosion by a powerful bomb - planted on a scooter - took place on Sep. 29, 2008, around 9.35 pm, when Ramzan was in full swing and on the eve of Navratri festival.
At least seven persons were killed and 100 others were injured in the blast which came barely two months before the devastating Nov. 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes.
A Special Court in Mumbai conducted the trial against the prime accused who include former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.
The other accused are a retired army intelligence officer Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, ex-army Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sameer Kulkarni and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi.
They were booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act pertaining to committing terror act, conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing hurt and promoting enmity between two religious groups.
ATS probe
The probe was first conducted by the local police and later taken over by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) then headed by the 26/11 hero, Hemant Karkare.
The ATS filed its chargesheet in 2009 but later the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Dec. 2010 which lodged its chargesheet in May 2013 and a supplementary chargesheet in 2016.
The Special Court framed the charges against the seven prime accused on Oct. 30, 2018 and the trial proceeded.
Though the NIA investigations aligned with the ATS probe, there were differences on certain aspects and on July 31, 2009, it recommended dropping charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The Special Court accepted the recommendations but the Bombay High Court reinstated the MCOCA charges on July 19, 2010.
The hearing of evidence in the case was concluded in Sep. 2023 after examining 323 witnesses, of whom 34 had turned hostile.
Others accused in the case – Pravin Takalki, Shyamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Kalsangra – were discharged from the case for lack of evidence.
Two others wanted – Ramchandra Kalsangra who along with Sandeep Dange, both from Indore – for allegedly planting the bomb, reportedly died in police custody, as claimed by a suspended police official, Mehboob Mujawar.
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