Malegaon blast case: All seven acquitted, court observes conviction can't happen based on current evidence

The explosion on September 29, 2008, near Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon, killed six people and left more than a hundred injured.

A special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused in the Malegaon blast case. The court observed that prosecution failed to prove the motorcycle belonged to  former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and that explosives were found inside Lt Col Prasad Purohit's house.

The court has come to the conclusion that the injured people were not 101 but 95 only, and there was manipulation in some medical certificates. . The court cited lack of evidence and procedural lapses by the investigating agencies as key reasons behind the acquittal.

The judgement comes nearly 17 years after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in a crowded area in Malegaon in Maharashtra's Nashik district, killing six people and injuring 101.

The court also observed that the spot panchnama was found to be improper, and while the chassis number on the motorcycle may be similar to that of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s bike, this alone did not suffice as conclusive proof. The prosecution could not establish that any secret meetings had taken place, and the voice test was not conducted as per the prescribed rules.

The accused had been charged with UAPA sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) and various IPC sections, including 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups).

The incident was the first terror attack in the country in which a group of seven alleged Hindu extremists, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and a serving army officer, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, were prosecuted. The trial began in earnest in 2018 and concluded on April 19, 2025. The final judgment was reserved following arguments from both sides.

The ATS suspected that the improvised explosive device (IED) had been planted on an LML Freedom motorcycle, which led to the blast. The probe revealed that the registration number of the motorcycle was fake and the engine number and chassis number had been erased.