Court notices to Pragya Thakur, Col Purohit in appeal against Malegaon verdict

The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notices to BJP MP from Bhopal, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, serving Army officer Lt Col Prasad Purohit, and five others recently acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. The court also directed notices to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), while the Maharashtra state’s Additional Public Prosecutors waived notice for the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

The notices were issued after Advocate Mateen Shaikh, appearing for the victims who filed the appeal, argued that at least four of the six appellants had been examined as witnesses during the trial. He further submitted that the first appellant had intervened in proceedings before the trial court, the High Court, and the Supreme Court.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad questioned the maintainability of the appeal. “You have any judgement that you fall under the definition of ‘victim’?” the bench asked.

Shaikh replied in the affirmative, citing legal provisions and judgments that define victims under law. He also referred to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNSS). However, the bench responded, “This will not apply in your case, as the occurrence of incident is before this came into force. You cannot resort to the new act. You have to rely on the old act.” Shaikh argued that the appellants also fell under the definition of victim under the Indian Penal Code.

The bench, after examining the documents, ordered issuance of notices to the acquitted persons and the investigating agency. It noted that the appellants were father, brother, son, and father-in-law of victims and had challenged the July 31, 2025, judgment acquitting all accused.

The court also recorded that the acquitted persons’ addresses were spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and other states. Shaikh assured the bench that these addresses were documented in the trial court’s judgment and that notices would be served. The bench granted two weeks for service of notices and adjourned the hearing for six weeks.

The investigating agencies have not filed any appeal against the acquittals. The case had taken a political turn after it was linked to so-called “Hindu terror,” and the state’s present dispensation had “welcomed” the trial court’s verdict.

On September 29, 2008, an explosive strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon, about 200 km from Mumbai. The ATS had alleged that the motorcycle belonged to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and that Lt Col Prasad Purohit had procured RDX during his stint in Kashmir. However, the trial court found that the chassis number of the vehicle had been “restored” by investigators in a manner that was “not entirely true” and that no evidence supported the prosecution’s claim about Purohit collecting RDX.

- Ends

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