A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Monday acquitted all seven accused, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, citing insufficient evidence and procedural lapses in the investigation.

The court observed that the prosecution failed to establish the charges against the accused, adding that critical lapses by the investigating agencies had weakened the case beyond repair.

The September 29, 2008 explosion in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra, killed six people and injured over a hundred. The case drew nationwide attention due to its political and religious overtones, and the trial lasted for over 17 years. Reading out the verdict, the judge noted that the prosecution could not conclusively prove whether the bomb was planted on a motorcycle. No evidence linked Col. Purohit to either assembling or supplying the explosive device, and it remained unclear who had placed the bomb. Key forensic evidence, including fingerprints from the blast site and the motorcycle chassis number, was either not collected or lost. Investigators also failed to establish whether the vehicle used for the bombing was registered in Thakur’s name.

The court said the panchanama — a legal description of the crime scene — was not conducted properly, and experts failed to preserve crucial material evidence.

“No conviction can be made solely on the basis of suspicion,” the court said, reiterating that terrorism has no religion. It also noted that no conclusive voice tests or credible proof of alleged secret meetings were presented during trial.

All seven accused were declared not guilty by the court.