Victims' families to challenge acquittal in Malegaon blast case, says lawyer Sahid Nadeem

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 31 (ANI): Advocate Shahid Nadeem, representing the victim families of the 2008 Malegaon blast, said on Thursday that he will challenge the acquittal of the seven accused in the High Court soon.
"We will file an appeal independently," the advocate told ANI.
An NIA special court on Thursday acquitted all 7 accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni. The people were acquitted of all charges under the UAPA, Arms Act and others.
"It is sad that we were waiting for the judgment for 17 years. But this is not the victim's fault that the acquittal happened; they just suffered. The victims had come from Malegaon to show their wounds, the court gave the benefit of the doubt because the agency had failed, the ATS and government failed. The victims have no role in this," the lawyer said.
Talking about the verdict, the lawyer said that the court has agreed that a blast happened, and has awarded compensation for the same.
"The court said that the funds were not used for bomb blast, but it has agreed that the bomb blast happened, the other side had said that the blast had not happened only," he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Mumbai's Special NIA court acquitted all seven accused of being involved in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, with the court saying that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The NIA court has also ordered the Maharashtra government to award Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured.
A total of 7 people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni have been acquitted.
The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and 8 defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The 7 people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms act and all other charges.
"Prosecution proved that a blast occurred in Malegaon but failed to prove that bomb was placed in that motorcycle," Judge Abhay Lohati said.
On September 29 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City's Bhikku Chowk. Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against 7, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya. (ANI)