<p>Mumbai: In a fresh development in the Malegaon blast case, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday - while hearing the appeal against acquittal filed by family members of victims - observed that it was “not an open gate for everyone” and wanted to know whether the appellants were examined as witnesses during the trial by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court. </p><p>The petition filed by six family members of victims came up for hearing before a division bench comprising of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, the Chief Justice and Justice Gautam Ankhad.</p><p>The family members of the September 29, 2008 blast victims in Malegaon — Nisar Ahmed Haji Syed Bilal, Sheikh Liaquat Mohiuddin, Sheikh Ishaq Sheikh Yousaf, Usman Khan Ainullah Khan, Mushtaq Shah Haroon Shah and Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh — had filed an appeal through Jamiat Ulema Maharashtra (Arshad Madani) Legal Aid Committee, which represented the victim in the case.</p>.So who set off the Malegaon blasts?.<p>On July 31, NIA Court’s Special Judge Abhay Lahoti — for “lack of evidence” — acquitted all the seven accused - former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur alias Swami Purnachetanand Giri, former Military Intelligence official Lt Col Prasad Purohit (Retd) and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey alias Swami Amrutanand Devtirth, a self-proclaimed Shankaracharya, Maj Ramesh Upadhyaya (Retd), Sameer Kulkarni alias Chanakya Sameer, Ajay alias Raja Rahirkar, and Sudhakar Onkarnath Chaturvedi alias Chanakya Sudhakar. </p><p>During the court hearing, Advocate Mateen Shaikh and Advocate Shahid Nadeem represented the families. </p><p>Ahmed pointed out Nisar Ahmed’s son had died in the blast.</p><p>The bench then said if the appellant's son died in the blast, then he should have been a witness.</p><p>“You (appellants) have to indicate whether or not they were witnesses. This is not an open gate for everyone," the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bombay-high-court">Bombay High Court</a> observed. </p><p>The court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Mumbai: In a fresh development in the Malegaon blast case, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday - while hearing the appeal against acquittal filed by family members of victims - observed that it was “not an open gate for everyone” and wanted to know whether the appellants were examined as witnesses during the trial by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court. </p><p>The petition filed by six family members of victims came up for hearing before a division bench comprising of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, the Chief Justice and Justice Gautam Ankhad.</p><p>The family members of the September 29, 2008 blast victims in Malegaon — Nisar Ahmed Haji Syed Bilal, Sheikh Liaquat Mohiuddin, Sheikh Ishaq Sheikh Yousaf, Usman Khan Ainullah Khan, Mushtaq Shah Haroon Shah and Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh — had filed an appeal through Jamiat Ulema Maharashtra (Arshad Madani) Legal Aid Committee, which represented the victim in the case.</p>.So who set off the Malegaon blasts?.<p>On July 31, NIA Court’s Special Judge Abhay Lahoti — for “lack of evidence” — acquitted all the seven accused - former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur alias Swami Purnachetanand Giri, former Military Intelligence official Lt Col Prasad Purohit (Retd) and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey alias Swami Amrutanand Devtirth, a self-proclaimed Shankaracharya, Maj Ramesh Upadhyaya (Retd), Sameer Kulkarni alias Chanakya Sameer, Ajay alias Raja Rahirkar, and Sudhakar Onkarnath Chaturvedi alias Chanakya Sudhakar. </p><p>During the court hearing, Advocate Mateen Shaikh and Advocate Shahid Nadeem represented the families. </p><p>Ahmed pointed out Nisar Ahmed’s son had died in the blast.</p><p>The bench then said if the appellant's son died in the blast, then he should have been a witness.</p><p>“You (appellants) have to indicate whether or not they were witnesses. This is not an open gate for everyone," the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bombay-high-court">Bombay High Court</a> observed. </p><p>The court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.</p>