PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has upheld the acquittal of the six persons charged with planning the 2009 Diwali eve Margao blast finding that there was insufficient evidence to convict them.
The High Court however, disagreed with the special court’s observations that the NIA had ‘malafide’ intent in booking members of the Sanatan Sanstha and set those observations aside.
Six Sanatan Sanstha members were charged initially by the Goa Police Crime Branch -- Vinay Talekar, Dhananjay Ashtekar, Prashant Ashtekar, Vinayak Patil, Prashant Juvekar and Dilip Mazgaonkar. The case was later handed over to the National Investigation Agency.
“There can be no dispute whatsoever that on 16th October, 2009, which was the night preceding Diwali and on which night, effigies of Narkasur are burnt all over Goa, an explosion took place at a distance of hardly 400 metres from the venue of the Narkasur effigy competition. The explosion took place in the Eterno scooter belonging to the close relation of the accused persons. In such an explosion, two of the accused persons expired,” the High Court ruled.
“There is evidence on record that the accused persons had close links with the Sanatan Sanstha and there is evidence on record that this Sanstha for the period between 2001 and 2009 was protesting the holding of any Narkasur effigy competition in the State of Goa. In these circumstances, to suggest that there were any malafides in the launching of the prosecution against the accused persons or to suggest that there was a doubt on the veracity of the FIR, is not proper,” the order by Justice M S Sonak and M S Jawalkar reads.
“To suggest that there was some manipulation in the FIR or that the prosecution was unfairly directed against a particular institution, is not an inference which could be legitimately drawn on the basis of the evidence on record,” the court said.
“The observations made doubting the veracity of FIR or suggesting any malafides in the launch of the prosecution… cannot be sustained and are required to be set aside as being contrary to the weight of evidence on record,” the High Court said.
However, beyond that, the High Court said that the evidence was sketchy and not enough to convict the accused.
“However, the fact that the prosecution may have proved the first three circumstances are by no means sufficient to convict the accused persons of the crimes for which they have been charged in this matter. As regards the conspiracy, there is hardly any evidence on record to establish the same. Merely because the accused persons may have links with Sanatan Sanstha and Sanatan Sanstha was opposing to holding of Narkasur effigy competitions, is by no means sufficient to establish the accused persons had conspired to make explosion at such competition on the fateful night of 16th October, 2009,” the High Court said.
“There is no independent evidence on record to establish the conspiracy or meeting of minds amongst the accused persons. The evidence regarding the conspiracy is quite sketchy,” the High Court observed.
Six persons stood trial for the bomb blast in Margao back in 2009 while three remained absconding and two of the accused died in the blast and hence the charges against them abated.
