Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the Congress should apologise for defaming the entire Hindu society by calling the Samjhauta blast case a terror act.

Addressing a press conference a day after a court in Panchkula pointed out loopholes in probe by the NIA, Jaitley said that the Congress coined the term ‘Hindu terror’ and filed a case based on fake evidence.

“Congress coined ‘Hindu terror’ and filed cases based on fake evidence to create the theory. But in the end court takes a decision,” Jaitley said referring to the 20 March verdict which led to the acquittal of main accused Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand and three others in connection with the 2007 case.

“The court has said it (Samjhauta case) is a case of no evidence, and perhaps because of this those who considered Hindus as terrorists are now trying to prove their devotion towards religion,” Jaitley said pointing at the series of temple tours by the top Congress leadership.

On 20 March, a special Panchkula court acquitted Aseemanand, Kamal Chauhan, Rajinder Chaudhary and Lokesh Sharma in the Samjhauta train blast case which left 68, including 43 Pakistani citizens, dead.

On Thursday, 28 March, the court released a 160-page order in which Panchkula special court judge Jagdeep Singh said that the prosecution “withheld” the “best evidence” and did not bring it on record.

While observing that “an act of terrorism has remained unsolved”, Justice Singh said in his order that the prosecution evidence contained “gaping holes” and that some independent witnesses were never examined.

He said that the court must “appreciate the evidence on record” and not “proceed on popular or predominant public perception or the political discourse of the day”.

Justice Singh also observed that there is no religion in the world that preaches violence.

A series of blasts tore through two coaches of the Attari-bound Samjhauta Express on the night of 18-19 February 2007 between Haryana’s Diwana and Panipat. Besides the Pakistanis, the blasts killed 10 Indian citizens and 15 unidentified people.

The alleged mastermind of the attack, Sunil Joshi, was shot dead in December 2007 near his home in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district.

Three other accused – Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Amit – could not be arrested and were declared proclaimed offenders.