Bombay HC discharges four accused in 2006 Malegaon blast case

The Bombay High Court has discharged four accused in the 2006 Malegaon blast case, quashing all charges against them. The decision leaves unresolved questions about those responsible for the blasts that killed 31 people and injured over 300

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday discharged four men accused in the 2006 Malegaon serial bomb blasts, quashing all the charges against them, including those of terror, and leaving unanswered the question of who was responsible for the explosions that killed 31 people.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Shyam Chandak allowed the appeals filed by four accused — Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar Ram Singh Narwaria and Lokesh Sharma — challenging the framing of charges by a special NIA court against them.

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A detailed written order is expected to be released later.

The four were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder and criminal conspiracy, and also under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA), a stringent anti-terror law.

On September 8, 2006, four bombs exploded in Nashik district’s Malegaon town in North Maharashtra, three inside the premises of Hamidia Masjid and Bada Kabrastan just after Friday prayers, and the fourth in Mushawarat Chowk, claiming 31 lives and injuring 312 persons.

The probe in the blasts witnessed several twists and turns, with the initial investigating agencies claiming that the conspiracy was hatched by Muslim accused, but the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which later probed the case, said right-wing extremists were behind the powerful explosions.

Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which initially probed the case, had arrested nine Muslim men in connection with the case.

The ATS, in its chargesheet filed in December 2006, claimed that the conspiracy to trigger blasts was hatched during a meeting held at the wedding of one of the accused in May 2006.

The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February 2007, which, in its supplementary chargesheet, agreed with the ATS probe and named the nine Muslim men as accused.

However, in April 2011, the NIA, which probes terror cases, took over the case and claimed that the blasts were the handiwork of right-wing extremists and arrested these four accused.

The central agency relied on a statement made by Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the Ajmer Sharif (Rajasthan) and Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad) blasts case, as per which the Malegaon 2006 blasts were carried out by the men of deceased right-wing activist Sunil Joshi.

While Aseemanand later retracted this statement, the NIA, after its probe, filed a chargesheet giving a clean chit to the nine arrested Muslim accused and naming these four men.

A special court in 2016 discharged those nine Muslim men, which was challenged by the ATS in the HC. The ATS’s appeal is pending in the HC and has not been heard since 2019.

In September last year, a special NIA court framed charges against the four accused. They then moved the HC against the special court order.

In January this year, the HC, while admitting the pleas, noted that a prima facie case for interference was made out and stayed further proceedings before the trial court pending the outcome of the matter.

The four accused, in their plea in the HC, claimed that the NIA had failed to produce any evidence against them.

The HC in 2019 granted bail to the four men (present appellants), observing that they had been incarcerated for over six years without trial.