Almost two months after a Jaipur court acquitted former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member Aseemanand in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case, the National Investigation Agency said it was yet to appeal against the order as it has not gone through its contents.
The judgment is in Hindi and runs into over 600 pages; the investigating agency has now hired a professional to translate the order into English.
“We are yet to examine the judgment. Since it is in Hindi, we have hired someone to translate it into English first. Only when we have all the documents ready, will we be able to take a decision whether to challenge the acquittal or not,” a senior NIA official said.
Incidentally, the NIA filed the supplementary charge sheet in the case in Hindi.
A special court in Jaipur had on March 8, acquitted Aseemanand and six others in the case. Three persons were killed and 17 injured in the blast. Three were convicted by the court.
The Opposition has accused the NIA of weakening the case at the behest of the ruling BJP-led government. The BJP has often claimed that charges against Aseemanand and other right-wing leaders like Sadhvi Pragya were an outcome of the then UPA government’s “political prejudice” as it coined the terms ‘Hindutva terror’ and ‘saffron terror’ for vote bank politics.
An official said that Aseemanand was currently in West Bengal to meet his ailing mother.
“He had earlier also gone to meet his mother and then we had written to the West Bengal police to keep a watch on him. This time, the Hyderabad court gave him bail and allowed him to travel outside Hyderabad. He had requested the court to allow him to visit his mother,” said the official.
Enough evidence
Special Public Prosecutor Ashwini Sharma had earlier told The Hindu that there was enough evidence against Aseemanand, including his confessional statement to a Delhi court.
He had also said that he would soon send a report to the NIA after examining the order whether to challenge the acquittal or not.
Contacted over phone on Sunday, Mr. Sharma just hung up when asked if he had sent any report to the NIA yet.
Assemanand walked out of jail in March after he was provided bail by a Hyderabad court where he is being tried for allegedly plotting the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case.
The NIA challenged the bail but he was allowed by the court to leave Hyderabad. Aseemanand was first arrested by the CBI in the Mecca Masjid case in 2010.
