Malegaon: Who Is To Blame?

The acquittal of all seven charged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the 2008 Malegaon blast case by a special court, coming a mere 10 days after the Bombay High Court overturned a 2015 verdict by a MCOCA court in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and acquitted all 12 convicted, raises serious questions on the state of investigation in India. In both cases the courts cited lack of evidence and shoddy investigative work to justify their rulings. That those acquitted had to spend years in jail or face adverse public scrutiny testifies to a criminal lack of accountability on the part of the police and the prosecuting agencies. Why do the wheels of the judicial process turn so slowly in India? In both cases, the kin of the victims of the blasts still await justice. In the Malegaon case the court ruled that “strong suspicion cannot take the place of legal proof.” That India’s premier investigating agency could not even establish that explosives had been planted on a motorcycle that caused the blast in the Muslim-dominated Malegaon town points to serious lacunae in evidence gathering. The number of witnesses who turned hostile was also telling. The twists and turns in the Malegaon case were numerous. It was first investigated by the anti-terrorism squad led by Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. In 2015, with a BJP government in power at the Centre, the case was handed over to the NIA. The high-profile accused in the case included former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Army officer Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, who were all supposedly part of an organisation called Abhinav Bharat, whose aim was to, allegedly, establish Hindu rule in India. That the NIA was under tremendous political pressure was obvious when the agency, as early as 2016, filed a chargesheet stating that it could not find sufficient evidence against Thakur and three others and recommended their acquittal. The then public prosecutor, Rohini Salian, had alleged that the government, through the NIA, had put pressure on her to go ‘soft’ on the accused.

2008 Malegaon Blast Verdict: FIR Discrepancies, Missing Witness Statements & Lack Of RDX Evidence Erode Prosecution’s Case

In a case where innocent lives were lost, politics muddied the waters. The UPA government’s claims of ‘saffron terror’ were completely rejected by the BJP dispensation. In fact, once the Modi government came to power, it was a foregone conclusion that the Malegaon accused would be acquitted. That it took so long is indicative of the tardiness of the judicial process in India. The Devendra Fadnavis government immediately moved the Supreme Court against the acquittals in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case and has gotten a stay against the move, but the NIA is unlikely to appeal the acquittals in the Malegaon case. Justice cannot be partial. Investigating agencies have to be completely insulated from the political powers that be, and investigators must ensure that the guilty in terror cases are identified and punished. Speedy trials are the need of the hour because justice delayed is indeed justice denied.