The Malegaon Blast Acquittals: A Failure of India's Investigative and Justice System
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Internal Security (Terrorism, National Investigation Agency - NIA, Anti-Terrorism Squad - ATS), Indian Polity (Judiciary, Rule of Law).
Mains:
GS Paper 3: Security challenges and their management in border areas; role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security; Linkages of organized crime with terrorism. (Police & Investigative Reforms is a key topic).
GS Paper 2: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary.
GS Paper 4 (Ethics): Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government institutions; Probity in Governance; Accountability.
Key Highlights from the News
The special court acquitted all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case after a 17-year trial.
The initial finding by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was that the attack was a conspiracy of "bomb for bomb" by Hindutva extremists.
However, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which later took over the case, was accused of deviating from the original investigation.
The court acquitted the accused citing unreliable evidence, coerced confessions, hostile witnesses, and electronic evidence that did not meet legal standards.
The article argues that this verdict does not point to any one ideology, but rather exposes the systemic investigative failures of India's investigation and prosecution systems.
The article concludes that terrorism has no religion and that an honest and competent justice system is needed to bring criminals to justice, whoever they may be.
The article also states that the BJP nominating Pragya Thakur as a parliamentary candidate while she was an accused in a terror attack case is an indication of the dangerous mainstreaming of extremist voices.
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