A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur on Wednesday acquitted senior Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leader Swami Aseemanand and five others in the 2007 Ajmer Sharif Dargah blast case. The blast had left three people dead and 17 injured.
However, three co-accused were convicted in the highly politicised case, proving a sinister plot of terror act perpetuated by right-wing extremists. Two others were given clean chit.
Among those convicted in the case are Bhavesh Patel, Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi (now dead). Joshi, who was murdered in 2007, also figures in other terror cases, including the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing that had claimed 68 lives, mostly Pakistani citizens.
Other than Aseemanand, the accused included Devendra Gupta, Chandrashekhar Leve, Mukesh Vasani, Bharat Mohan Rateshwar, Lokesh Sharma, Bhavesh Patel, Mehul Kumar, and Harshad Solanki.
The eight accused are in judicial custody while one, Chandrashekhar Leve, is out on bail. Three other accused are currently absconding. They include Suresh Nair, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra. Chandrashekhar Leve, Mukesh Vasani, Bharat Mohan Rateshwar, Lokesh Sharma, Mehul Kumar and Harshad Solanki were also acquitted in the case.
While all the accused in the past have been suspected of having links to the RSS, it was Aseemanand's name that had highlighted the case, especially after the senior leader had given a confessional statement, not only admitting his role in the terror attacks but also that of senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar. The case had further highlighted the common links between Samjhauta blasts, Mecca Masjid blasts and Ajmer.
It is Aseemanand's acquittal which is being seen as a unique instance by some legal experts. The reason cited by some advocates is that the acquittal might be a rare instance wherein confessional statements recorded before a magistrate did not help to secure the accused's confession.
Speaking to DNA, Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde said that it was important to examine the reason as to why was Aseemanand's confession was discarded. “Normally, in cases where a terror angle is suspected, a confession under Section 164 is used to convict the accused. Why it wasn't done in this particular case could have multiple reasons which need to be examined,” said Hegde. He added that, in the past, cases of confessions of terror accused have been used by investigating agencies as crucial portions for probe.
Sarim Naved, a Delhi-based criminal lawyer, was also of the same view. “A confession under Section 164 is supposed to be weak in itself and requires corroboration, but if you see many terror cases, confessions have been routinely used to convict not only the confession makers but also the co-accused. The confessions under law can be used against the confession maker and there has to be something egregious to be pointed out in the confession to disbelieve it,” Naved told DNA.
Who is Aseemanand?
Born as Naba Kumar Sarkar, Aseemanand originally hails from Hooghly district of West Bengal. After completing his BSc (honours) in 1971, followed by a Master's degree, he became a member of the RSS. While he took part in RSS activities since school, it was only in 1977 that he started working full time for the organisation and was even rechristened as Swami Aseemanand by his guru Swami Parmanand.
What was his confession about?
In December 2010 and January 2011, Aseemanand made two confessions before the court, one in Delhi and the other in Haryana. The 42-page-long confession, in which he admitted to planning the attacks, was recorded after he refused to have a legal representation. Swami Aseemanand, in his confessional statement, recorded on December 18, 2010, admitted that he had given Rs 40,000 to Sunil Joshi for carrying out bomb explosions at Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad. This made it clear that the appellant not only conspired in the blast but also offered his personal residence for the conspiracy and meetings and had full prior knowledge of the blasts.
"The meeting of minds of Sunil Joshi, Aseemanand and the appellant (Bharat Mohan Rateshwar) and their theory of ‘Bomb Ka badla Bomb’ against Muslims, and assembling of bombs by Joshi, Ramji Kalsangra, Amit Mehul and Shivam in Devas is revealed from the statements of Vasudev Parmar and Swami Aseemanand,” official documents read.
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