Bombay HC adjourns hearing on appeal against acquittal over incomplete details

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on an appeal against the acquittal of seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case over incomplete details submitted about the appellant family members of victims reported news agency PTIThe seven accused acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case included former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad PurohitEarlier the HC on Tuesday said it was not an open gate for everyone to file an appeal against acquittal in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and sought details if the victims family members were examined as witnesses in the trial reported PTIOn Wednesday the appellants lawyer submitted a chart of the details but the bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad said it was incompleteThe family members lawyer told the bench that the first appellant Nisar Ahmed whose son died in the blast was not a witness in the trialAhmed was however allowed by the special court to intervene and assist the prosecution during the trial he saidThe lawyer added that out of the six appellants only two were examined as prosecution witnessesThe high court said the chart did not specify soThe chart is confusing You need to verify it properly Whether these persons were examined or not that is the question The chart is incomplete the court said and adjourned the hearing till Thursday reported PTIThe HC was hearing an appeal filed by the family members of the six persons who lost their lives in the blast against the acquittal judgmentOn September 29 2008 an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town located about 200 km from Mumbai in Maharashtras Nashik district killing six persons and injuring 101 others reported PTIThe appeal challenged a special court judgment acquitting the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case including former BJP MP Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Prasad PurohitThe HC bench on Tuesday sought to know if the family members were examined as witnesses in the trialThe appeal filed last week claimed that a faulty investigation or some defects in the probe cannot be grounds for acquitting the accused It also contended that the conspiracy of the blast was hatched in secrecy and hence there cannot be direct evidence of itThe petitioners claimed the order passed by the special NIA court on July 31 acquitting the seven accused was wrong and bad in law and hence deserved to be quashedThe appeal said the trial court judge should not act as a postman or mute spectator in a criminal trial When the prosecution failed to elicit facts the trial court can ask questions andor summon witnesses it addedThe trial court has unfortunately acted as a mere post office and allowed a deficient prosecution to benefit the accused the appeal said reported PTIIt also raised concerns over the manner in which the National Investigation Agency NIA conducted the probe and trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and sought the accused to be convictedThe state AntiTerrorism Squad ATS by arresting the seven persons unearthed a large conspiracy and since then there has been no blast in areas populated by the minority community the appeal said reported PTIIt claimed the NIA after taking over the case diluted the allegations against the accused personsThe special court had in its judgment said mere suspicion cannot replace real proof and there was no cogent or reliable evidence to warrant a convictionSpecial judge A K Lahoti presiding over the NIA court had said there was no reliable and cogent evidence against the accused that proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt reported PTIThe prosecutions case was that the blast was carried out by rightwing extremists with the intention to terrorise the Muslim community in the communally sensitive Malegaon townThe NIA court in its judgment had flagged several loopholes in the prosecutions case and the investigation carried out and said the accused persons deserved the benefit of doubtBesides Thakur and Purohit the accused included Major Ramesh Upadhyay retired Ajay Rahirkar Sudhakar Dwivedi Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer KulkarniWith inputs from PTI