Bombay High Court asked to stay transfer of Malegaon blast trial judge

On Saturday, 5 April, special judge A.K. Lahoti directed both prosecution and defence to conclude their final arguments by 15 April in the Malegaon blast trial. The same day, Bombay High Court issued a list of 222 judges proposed to be transferred, effective 9 June, when the courts reopen after the summer vacation.

Judges are generally transferred after being in the same post for three years, and special judge Lahoti has been presiding over the trial of the Malegaon blast case since June 2022.

While Lahoti is the fifth judge to have either retired or been transferred since the NIA (National Investigation Agency) submitted its charge sheet and the trial began in 2018, the trial picked up pace only after Lahoti was asked to exclusively preside over it in 2022. Trial proceedings, pending for 16 years, appeared to be nearing an end when Lahoti on 5 April directed both the prosecution and defence to conclude their final arguments by 15 April.

The transfer list was issued on the same day. Lawyers representing the victims are learned to have rushed to the high court seeking a stay on the transfer order and granting Lahoti an extension to enable him to deliver the verdict. A new judge would take time to go through the voluminous charge sheet, depositions by witnesses, and the evidence produced by the NIA, delaying the conclusion of the trial, they argued.

The transfer order, however, states that judicial officers under transfer are “directed (a) to finish judgments in all cases in which hearing has already been concluded and (b) should endeavour to dispose of all part-heard cases before handing over charge.”

The victims’ lawyers apprehend that because the hearing has not been concluded in the Malegaon case, the accused could delay and drag the case until June 2025. A different interpretation is that the transfer order stipulates that Lahoti should dispose the case first before handing over charge.

The Malegaon bomb blast in 2008 killed six and injured 100. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) claimed evidence collected by it pointed to the involvement of ‘Hindutva’ terrorists. , who was later elected as a BJP member of the Lok Sabha from Bhopal, was arrested along with other equally high-profile accused including Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit. The case was transferred to the NIA in 2010.

In 2016, special prosecutor Rohini Salian resigned after alleging that she had been asked to go soft on the accused by the agency. The NIA did seek to submit a closure report citing lack of evidence in 2017. The trial court, however, did not agree with the agency though it agreed to drop charges under the draconian MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act).

Subsequently, the NIA submitted a chargesheet in 2018 when the trial began. The pandemic-induced lockdown, retirement and transfer of judges and delaying tactics by Pragya Singh Thakur by repeatedly ignoring summons to appear in court also delayed the trial. Lahoti is the fifth judge to be transferred in the 17-year-old case.

In March, lawyer Shahid Nadeem, who represents the intervenor, had written to the chief justice of Bombay High Court, seeking to retain Lahoti until the conclusion of the trial. “We the victims apprehend that any change in the Presiding Officer may cause an unavoidable delay in the trial as the newly posted Presiding Officer would require to familiarise himself with the entire voluminous chargesheet along with exhibited documents and evidence which is running into thousands of pages,” the letter had said.