What is the issue?
- Recently, all the five suspects in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case (2007) were acquitted by an NIA (National Investigation Agency) Court.
- Regardless of the culpability of those acquitted, the institutional legitimacy of the judiciary has been eroded as justice still looks elusive.
What is the case about?
- The Blast - Mecca Masjid is a mosque in Hyderabad.
- It saw an explosion in its premises in May 2007 that killed 9 people and injured many.
- While initial investigations held radical Islamists as propagators of the attack, and scores of suspects were picked up, allegedly subjected to torture.
- But it was subsequently alleged that Hindu Right Wing groups were responsible and “Swami Aseemanand and four others” were the main suspects.
- Justice - All five people have been acquitted now and this is likely to reinforce public cynicism about the state of the criminal justice system in the country.
- Significantly, after 11 years of speedy trial, the real culprits are still out.
- With a right-wing union government in office, accusation of “inherent lack of will to render justice” and “NIA being influenced” looms large.
- Similarity - The Mecca Masjid Case has a striking similarity to that of the Malegaon Serial Blast Case (2006) in Maharashtra.
- It was initially thought that the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was involved and several Muslims were arrested on suspicion.
- But after 4 years, in 2010, it emerged that some members of a Hindu group called “Abhinav Bharat” were the perpetrators.
What has eroded the credibility of investigations?
- Swami Aseemanand had made a significant confession in 2010 at a magistrate’s court in Delhi, but he has subsequently retracted his statement.
- But considering the comprehensiveness of information provided in the initial confession, it is unclear why NIA couldn’t establish sufficient evidence.
- It is hence hard to wade off questions of propriety of the prosecution and accusation of soft peddling to satiate the BJP regime isn’t completely baseless.
- Notably, even a public prosecutor who was handling the Malegaon blast case had accused the investigation agencies of showing laxity in their work.
- Additionally, 66 of the 226 witnesses in the Mecca Masjid case have turned hostile, which speaks volumes of the lack of legal safeguards for witnesses.
- The investigating agencies face a credibility crisis and there is an immediate need for course correction.
Source: The Hindu
