Overview

• A special NIA court led by Judge A K Lahoti acquitted all seven accused, including Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, on grounds that the prosecution relied on suspicion rather than reliable proof
• In its 1,036-page judgment the court flagged allegations of torture, unlawful detention and evidence-planting by Maharashtra ATS officers and directed formal inquiries into their conduct
• Retired ATS inspector Mehboob Mujawar’s claim that he was ordered to arrest RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was rejected due to lack of cogent testimony or documentary evidence
• Mahayuti alliance leaders hailed the verdict as vindication against a ‘saffron terror’ narrative coined under the previous Congress-led UPA, while the Congress denounced the probe as politically motivated
• The prosecution examined over 323 witnesses, with more than 30 turning hostile, underscoring systemic investigative weaknesses that eroded the case’s credibility