Today, On 31st July, Lawyer Sahid Nadeem said the Malegaon blast verdict will be challenged, stating, “Victims just suffered, they had no role in the acquittal.” He blamed investigative failures, not the victims, for the 17-year-long wait for justice.
Advocate Shahid Nadeem, who represents the families of the victims from the 2008 Malegaon blast, announced on Thursday that he plans to challenge the acquittal of the seven accused in the High Court shortly.
The advocate told media,
“We will file an appeal independently,”
A special NIA court had acquitted all seven accused, which includes former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya), and Sameer Kulkarni.
They were cleared of all charges under the UAPA and the Arms Act, among others.
The lawyer said,
“It is sad that we were waiting for the judgment for 17 years. But this is not the victim’s fault that the acquittal happened; they just suffered. The victims had come from Malegaon to show their wounds, the court gave the benefit of the doubt because the agency had failed, the ATS and government failed. The victims have no role in this,”
Regarding the verdict, he pointed out that the court acknowledged the occurrence of the blast and awarded compensation for it.
He added,
“The court said that the funds were not used for the bomb blast, but it has agreed that the bomb blast happened; the other side had said that the blast had not happened only,”
Earlier on Thursday, the Mumbai Special NIA court acquitted all seven accused involved in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, stating that the prosecution did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The NIA court also directed the Maharashtra government to provide Rs 2 lakh in compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Initially, eleven individuals were accused in the case, but the court ultimately framed charges against seven, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya.
The court reviewed testimony from 323 prosecution witnesses and eight defense witnesses before delivering its verdict.
Judge Abhay Lohati said,
“Prosecution proved that a blast occurred in Malegaon but failed to prove that the bomb was placed in that motorcycle,”
On September 29, 2008, six people lost their lives and 95 others were injured when an explosive device attached to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City’s Bhikku Chowk.
Case Title: National Investigation Agency v Pragyasingh Chandrapalsingh Thakur and Ors
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