Malegaon Blast Acquittal: NIA Studying Verdict, No Decision Yet On Filing Appeal

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is studying the acquittal order in the Malegaon Blast case to take a call on the need or timing of an appeal against the verdict, which saw all seven accused walking free, an official said on Thursday.

An NIA spokesperson said that the probe agency is still going through the judgment and has yet to take a call on filing an appeal against the verdict.

Another official of the probe agency claimed that, currently, legal opinion is being taken at the branch-level and subsequently a decision will be taken on the future course of action.

He explained that whenever a court order is delivered in a case, it goes to the CIO (Chief Investigating Officer) and then a legal opinion is taken to decide whether to file an appeal or not.

He also hinted that, normally, a decision on filing a review petition is to be taken in 30 days, but the time limit for filing an appeal can be extended up to 90 days.

On July 31, the Special NIA court acquitted all seven accused, including Pragya Thakur and Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit.

Special Judge A.K. Lahoti acquitted the seven blast accused while giving them the benefit of the doubt.

The other accused included Major (Retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.

The explosion killed six people on September 29, 2008, and injured 101 in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra, when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque during the holy month of Ramzan.

Following the blast, riot-like conditions erupted at the site, with residents attacking police, further complicating the investigation.

While delivering the verdict, the court said that the prosecution failed to bring any cogent evidence, and the proof that was presented was riddled with inconsistencies.

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