The resignation of the judge, who pronounced the verdict in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case on Monday, has been rejected, said reports.
After acquitting five accused in the case earlier this week, Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge Ravinder Reddy, surprisingly, tendered his resignation on the same day to the Chief Justice of Telangana.
On Monday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had said that he was surprised at the development.
“Judge who gave acquittal to all accused in Mecca Masjid Blast RESIGNS very intriguing and I am surprised with the Lordship decision,” he had written on Twitter.
Judge who gave acquittal to all accused in Mecca Masjid Blast RESIGNS very intriguing and I am surprised with the Lordship decision
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 16, 2018
Earlier on Monday, the special NIA court had acquitted all five accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case. The court in Hyderabad’s Nampally cited lack of evidence as the reason behind the acquittal.
On 18 May 2007, a pipe-bomb exploded at the Mecca Masjid near Charminar in Hyderabad during Friday prayers killing 9 and injuring 58 others.
Also Read: 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case: A timeline of events
Ten people allegedly belonging to right-wing organisations were named as accused in the case. However, only five of them — Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Swami Aseemanand alias Naba Kumar Sarkar, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajendra Chowdhary — were arrested and faced trial.
Two other accused — Sandeep V Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra — are absconding while another accused Sunil Joshi died. Investigations were continuing against two other accused.
The court said that the prosecution failed to prove any of the charges against the accused in the incident.
Aseemanand had confessed his involvement in the blast before the court but later retracted his ‘confession’ alleging that he was coerced by the ATS (Anti-Terror Squad).
The NIA took over the case on 7 April 2011.
Reacting to the verdict, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebuked the Congress for coining the ‘Hindu terror’ and demanded an apology from party’s president Rahul Gandhi.