Mumbai, Jul 31 (PTI) A special court while acquitting seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case on Thursday observed mere suspicion cannot replace real proof and that there was no cogent or reliable evidence to warrant conviction.
No religion teaches violence, the court said. Terrorism has no religion, but the court cannot convict on mere perception, it observed.
There is also no evidence to prove that explosive substances were transported or stored by Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit in his house or that he had assembled the bomb, the court said.
The judge also held that provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were not applicable to the case as there was no proper application of mind before grant of sanction for the same.
An explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in the town, located about 200 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008 killing six persons and injuring 101 others.
The court on Thursday acquitted the seven accused – former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Purohit, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.
Special judge A K Lahoti, presiding over National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases, while reading out the judgment said there was no “reliable and cogent evidence” against the accused that proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution’s case was that the blast was carried out by right wing extremists with an intention to terrorise the Muslim community in the communally sensitive Malegaon town in Nashik district.
The court in its judgment flagged several loopholes in the prosecution’s case and the investigation carried out, and said the accused persons deserved the benefit of doubt.
“Mere suspicion cannot take the place of real proof,” the court said, adding that in the absence of any evidence, the accused persons deserve the benefit of doubt.
The overall evidence does not inspire confidence in the court to convict the accused. There is no reliable and cogent evidence to warrant conviction, the judge said while reading out the judgment.
The court further said it was not established that the motorbike used in the blast was registered in the name of Thakur, as claimed by the prosecution.
“The prosecution has proved that the blast took place but could not prove that the explosive was fitted in the motor bike,” it observed.
On the prosecution’s case that the accused persons had attended several meetings in Bhopal and Nashik where the conspiracy for the blast was hatched, the court said no witness has supported this theory and hence, neither the meeting nor the conspiracy hatched could be proved.
While there is evidence to show that money was distributed by right wing group ‘Abhinav Bharat’, there is no evidence to prove that the same was used to fund terrorist activities, the court observed.
The money seems to have been used by Purohit for the construction of his house, it added.
There is also no evidence to prove that explosive substances were transported or stored by Purohit in his house or that he had assembled the bomb, the court said. PTI AVI SP GK
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