Former public prosecutor, Rohini Salian, who was once allegedly asked to go soft on Hindu terror suspects in Malegaon blasts case, has spoken on the NIA’s spectacular U-turn to to oppose the discharge of the nine Muslim men facing terror charges in the case.
Speaking to Indian Express, Salian said she was present in court in April 2014 when the NIA said it did not want to oppose the bail applications for the nine Muslim terror accused.
Also Read | Malegaon Blast: Public prosecutor claims she was asked to go soft on Hindu terror suspects
Last year in June, Salina had claimed that it was Suhas Varke, who had passed on the message to her from the NIA to “go soft” on Hindu terror accused.
Salina said that the NIA had found no evidence against the nine Muslim accused even after 2-3 years of their investigations.
She said, “For a long time, the filing of the chargesheet dragged on. Finally, in the chargesheet filed by the other public prosecutor, NIA pointed to the involvement of the right-wing group. I put through my comments to the NIA and stated that we need to be very assertive about which group was behind the blast.
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Was it the first group of Muslims as the (Maharashtra) ATS had claimed or the second group of Hindus as deduced by NIA? Also if it was the second group, what about the first one? The NIA itself had recommended discharging the first group of accused. After going through the evidence and using my own analysis, I had given these comments. And because I wanted the chargesheet to have this clarity, I had asked for 15 days’ extension.”
She added, ““The ATS filed the chargesheet against the first group of accused under MCOCA, saying that the Muslims were part of an organised crime syndicate. Later, NIA said Hindus and not Muslims were behind the blasts. They need to now stick to that and give relief to the earlier group. How can both groups be accused under MCOCA? Even if there have been conflicting chargesheets following extended investigations the prosecutor can withdraw a case with the permission of the government. The prosecutor can suggest to the court that a case can be withdrawn and the judge can take a decision on that. Justice should prevail. One cannot have a situation where there is injustice to both groups. I am not supporting either ATS or NIA. The truth should come out.”