2008 Malegaon Blast: One of the longest running cases in the history of Indian judiciary is the Malegaon blast case (malegaon blast caseToday the event is completing 14 years. However, the matter in this matter is still pending in the Bombay Sessions Court. The investigation system has changed, the court has changed, the judge has changed, but the matter is still going on. The accused had filed a petition in the High Court for disposal of the matter at the earliest. The High Court also gave directions on this, but when this matter will be settled, its answer is still unanswered.
current status of the case
NIA in the year 2020 (NIA) had assured the Bombay High Court that the matter would be disposed of by December 2020. In fact, its regular hearing is going on since December 2020. But in the six months before the lockdown, only 14 people have recorded their testimony in this case. There are a total of 475 witnesses in the case, of whom more than half are yet to testify. Meanwhile, no progress has been made due to the lockdown in view of the Quran. The High Court has already directed the NIA court to expedite the hearing of this case pending for the last 13 years. But sometimes some lawyers do not attend the hearing of this case. Suspected accused in the bomb blast case, Sameer Kulkarni alleged that there was a deliberate delay in the case.
What is the matter?
On 29 September 2008, a bomb exploded in the premises of a mosque in Malegaon. Seven people lost their lives and many others were injured. Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur along with Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Ajay Rahirkar were arrested in this case. A case was registered against these accused under sections 16 (committing terroristic act) and 18 (conspiracy). Relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act, including UAPA sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (causing hurt), and 153(a) (inciting enmity between two religious groups) All these accused are currently out on bail. Earlier, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was investigating the matter. However, the investigation was later handed over to the NIA.
