After 17 years, the special NIA court has acquitted all seven accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. The verdict cites failure to prove key charges and defects in UAPA sanction orders.
July 31, 2025: In the 2008 Malegaon Blast Case, all seven people who were accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt. Col. Purohit, were found not guilty.
Mumbai, India A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai today, Thursday, July 31, 2025, found all seven people guilty in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. This ends a legal battle that lasted almost 17 years. The accused include BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit.
The verdict was read by Special Judge A K Lahoti, who said that the prosecution did not prove that a bomb was put in the motorcycle used in the blast. The court also said that the prosecution was able to prove that there was an explosion in Malegaon, but they weren’t able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants were directly responsible for it. The court also found that there were 95 injured people, not 101, and that certain medical certificates had been “manipulated.”
The decision also made it clear that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) charges would not be used in this case since the punishment for UAPA was not given out according to the guidelines and “both the sanction orders of the UAPA in the case are defective.”
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was in court, was one of those who were found not guilty. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) detained her in October 2008, saying that the motorcycle used in the blast was registered in her name and that she was part of a plot to attack places with a lot of Muslims.
Also found not guilty was Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, who was accused of helping a hardline Hindu group and getting explosives. Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, and Sameer Kulkarni are also free. All seven were already free on bail.
Since the beginning, the case has been full with controversy and political accusations. There were over 320 prosecution witnesses, 37 of whom went hostile. The ATS was in charge of the probe at first, but in 2011 it was given to the NIA.
The verdict today ends one of India’s longest and most politically charged terror cases in a dramatic way. It has caused a wide range of reactions among politicians and the general public.