Trial in 2008 Malegaon blast case over, NIA seeks `commensurate' punishment for Pragya Thakur, other
Mumbai (PTI): Almost 17 years after a blast killed six people and left over 100 injured in Maharashtra's communally sensitive Malegaon town, the trial in the case got over on Saturday with the special NIA court adjourning the matter to May 8 for judgement.
The National Investigation Agency, which probed the case, sought "commensurate punishment" for the accused who include former MP and BJP leader Pragya Thakur.
On Saturday, the prosecution filed its final written arguments, marking the end of the trial, presided over by A K Lahoti, special judge for NIA cases.
The prosecution submitted that the blast in Malegaon -- a town with a sizable Muslim population -- was orchestrated by the conspirators to terrorize a section of Muslim community, disrupt essential services, create communal tensions, and threaten the state's internal security.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in the town, about 200 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008.
Besides Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni are the accused in the case, charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code.
The NIA said in its final submission that based on "relevant, admissible, cogent, trustworthy, wholly reliable and proved evidence" it "conclusively and cogently" established the crucial circumstances to form a complete chain of events.
It was established that the accused were "directly involved in the part of larger conspiracy hatched amongst themselves and (were) instrumental in causing a bomb explosion," the document said.
The blast took place during the holy month of Ramzan, just before the Navratri festival, the NIA pointed out, adding that the intention of the accused was to strike terror in a section of the Muslim community.
The act was part of "their larger conspiracy" to "establish 'Aryawrat (Hindu Rashtra)", the prosecution contended.
It urged the court to convict the accused "for commission of serious terror offences" and award "commensurate punishment" in the interest of justice.
During the trial, the prosecution presented 323 witnesses, of which 34 turned hostile.
The case was initially probed by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), Maharashtra, before being transferred to NIA in 2011.
The central agency in its charge sheet filed in 2016 gave a clean chit to Thakur and three other accused- Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki and Shivnarayan Kalsangra- saying it found no evidence against them.
The court, however, discharged Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki but ruled that Pragya Thakur will have to face the trial.
The charges framed against the accused on October 30, 2018, included sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and IPC sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups), among others.
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LoP Ashoka accuses Karnataka govt of 'diverting' SC/ST funds for guarantees
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, on Tuesday accused the state government of "diverting funds" meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the SCSP and TSP components to finance its guarantee schemes. He also alleged that the budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has undermined the principle of social justice.
During the discussion on the 2026–27 state budget in the assembly, the BJP leader claimed that substantial portions of funds earmarked for Dalit welfare had been diverted for other schemes over the past four years.
He also questioned the implementation of allocations under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), saying the government has "failed" to ensure that the money actually reached the intended communities.
“Today, the money here has been diverted. In this diversion of funds, social justice has been ignored. If the money meant for Dalits is looted, can that be called social justice?” he asked while criticising the government’s handling of SC/ST allocations.
According to the opposition leader, around Rs 14,198 crore had been diverted in the current financial year alone from SCSP and TSP allocations to various guarantee schemes announced by the government.
Listing the expenditure under these programmes, the former Deputy CM said Rs 8,296.32 crore had been allocated for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Rs 1,537 crore for Shakti, Rs 1,612 crore for Anna Bhagya, Rs 2,591.6 crore for Gruha Jyothi and Rs 1,062 crore for Yuva Nidhi.
“In total, Rs 14,198 crore has been diverted this year,” he said.
He further claimed that the diversion of funds had increased over the years.
“In 2023–24, Rs 11,144 crore was taken from SC/ST funds. In 2024–25, Rs 14,282.68 crore was taken. In 2025–26, Rs 13,343.84 crore was taken. In 2026–27, Rs 14,198.97 crore has been taken.”
“This amount keeps increasing year after year. In total, Rs 53,059.45 crore belonging to SC/ST communities has been taken during Siddaramaiah’s tenure,” he added.
Ashoka said that although the budget documents projected large allocations for Dalit welfare, the actual funds reaching the beneficiaries were significantly lower.
The government had earmarked Rs 44,632 crore for SC/ST communities in 2026–27, but once the diversion towards guarantee schemes was removed, the effective amount available was much less, he added.
The BJP leader also referred to a review meeting on January 31 to examine the utilisation of SCSP and TSP funds.
As per the review, Ashoka said only a part of the sanctioned amount had actually been released and spent.
“For SCSP, Rs 29,872 crore was allocated, but by January 27, only Rs 16,699 crore had been released, and the expenditure was Rs 15,391 crore."
Similarly, under the Tribal Sub-Plan, he alleged that Rs 11,900 crore had been allocated, but only Rs 6,521 crore was released and Rs 6,002 crore spent by the end of January.
“Even after eleven months, only about 50 per cent of the funds were released by the Finance department.”
Ashoka also criticised the allocation of SC/ST funds to departments and schemes that he said had little direct relevance to the welfare of those communities.
These included wildlife conservation programmes in the forest department, the tiger conservation project, maintenance of hospital buildings, and IT policy formulation.
“How are Dalits related to wildlife conservation? Are there SC tigers and ST elephants? How can funds meant for Dalits be used for tiger conservation?” he asked.
He also objected to funds being allocated from SC/ST components to institutions such as the Sanjay Gandhi Trauma and Orthopaedic Institute in Bengaluru and for Public Works Department buildings.
The opposition leader also charged that the government hiked taxes and prices of various commodities and services ranging from milk to petrol, vehicles, drinking water, sewerage cess, electricity, metro rail and bus fare, school and college fees, property taxes in Bengaluru, property e-Khata fee, A-Khata conversion, exam fee and birth and death certificate issuance.
“People are being taxed for digging cellar. The mines and geology department has issued notices to people. This is unheard of for me,” Ashoka said.
