Bombay HC discharges 4 accused in 2006 Malegaon blast case, quashes charges against them

Nearly two decades after the 2006 Malegaon blasts that killed 31 people, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday set aside a special court’s order framing charges against the four remaining accused.

With this decision, the case now stands in a position where none of the accused is facing trial, effectively leaving one of Maharashtra’s deadliest terror attacks without anyone to be held accountable in court.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Shyam Chandak allowed the appeals filed by the four accused - Rajendra Chaudhary, Dhan Singh, Manohar Ram Singh Narwaria and Lokesh Sharma - against the special court order.

A copy of the detailed order would be made available later.

The four were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder and criminal conspiracy, and also under the stringent Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act (UAPA).

The ruling ends, at least for now, the last active prosecution in a case that has passed through three investigating agencies, produced two contradictory theories about who was responsible, and hasn’t led to a single conviction in 19 years, Indian Express reported.

On September 8, 2006, four bombs exploded in Nashik district's Malegaon town, three inside the premises of Hamidia Masjid and Bada Kabrastan just after Friday prayers, and the fourth in Mushawarat Chowk, claiming 31 lives and injuring 312 persons.

The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which initially probed the case, had arrested nine Muslim men in connection with the case, PTI reported.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which later took over the case, claimed the blasts were the handiwork of right-wing extremists and arrested these four accused.

The case took a decisive turn based largely on a statement made in December 2010 by Swami Aseemanand, who, while in custody in other blast cases, had claimed that activist Sunil Joshi told him the 2006 Malegaon blast was carried out by “his boys.” Investigators later relied on this claim to file a fresh chargesheet naming four new accused along with the deceased Joshi and others who were absconding.

However, Aseemanand later withdrew his statement, alleging that it had been obtained under coercion. Courts in multiple related cases—including the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, and Ajmer Sharif blasts—had already dismissed his confession as unreliable and acquitted him.

During arguments before the Bombay High Court, defence counsel Advocate Kaushik Mhatre contended that there were no eyewitnesses linking his clients to the crime and argued that a retracted confession, previously discredited by other courts, could not justify framing charges. The High Court found sufficient grounds to intervene at a preliminary level, stayed the trial earlier, and eventually quashed the charges.

The four accused had been arrested in 2013 and remained in custody for six years before being granted bail in 2019, with the court noting the prolonged incarceration without trial.

In a parallel development, the nine Muslim men who were initially arrested in the case had been discharged in 2016. Although the ATS challenged this discharge, the matter has remained pending before the High Court since 2019.

With the latest ruling, the case has reached an unusual situation where the original accused have been discharged and the subsequent accused have now had charges against them set aside.

The decision comes less than a year after a special NIA court acquitted all seven accused in the separate 2008 Malegaon blast case, including former BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, citing insufficient evidence.