14 years on, 194 witnesses in Malegaon blasts case yet to be examined

On September 29, 2008, a bomb exploded at Malegaon in Maharashtra, killing 10 and injuring over 100 people

It has been 14 years since the 2008 Malegaon blasts killed 10 and injured over 100 people, as on Wednesday, 194 witnesses are yet to be examined before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court.

On September 29, 2008, a bomb exploded in Malegaon, a city in Nashik district of Maharashtra. As per the prosecution, 272 witnesses have been examined, 16 have turned hostile and the trial is likely to conclude in seven months before Special Judge A.K. Lahoti, the fourth judge in the case.

In July 2022, the Bombay High Court had directed the special NIA court to examine two witnesses every day and said, "The NIA has to ensure that more than one witness remains present. If one witness is arranged for, and for some reason, that witness cannot remain present in court, then what happens? Judicial time is wasted."

After the blasts, a case was filed by the Azad Nagar police station. It was however re-registered by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in November 2008 and charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) were applied. In January 2009, the ATS had filed its first chargesheet followed it with a supplementary chargesheet in April 2011. However, in April 2011, the Ministry of Home Affairs suo motu directed the NIA to take up further investigation of the case. In May 2016, the NIA had filed its second supplementary chargesheet and dropped MCOCA charges against BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi. In December 2017, Special Judge S.D. Tekale dropped MCOCA charges and charged them under Sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

On June 7, 2019, Ms. Thakur had appeared before Special Judge P.R. Sitre and told the court that she does not know anything about the blast. She was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on April 25, 2017 after the court held “prima facie, no case was made out against her.” Ms. Thakur was chargesheeted by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad in 2009 stating that bomb was tied to her motorcycle. The NIA had however found the evidence against her to be the weakest and not substantial. In its supplementary chargesheet, the Central agency said the motorcycle, which was registered in her name, was used by an absconding accused.

On August 21, 2017, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Lt. Col. Purohit and said he had been caught in a “political crossfire” and languishing in jail for nine years. All the other five accused are also out on bail.