India, July 31 -- A special National Investigation Agency court on Thursday acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, including former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and lieutenant colonel Prasad Purohit, citing lack of direct evidence and procedural lapses in invoking terror charges.

Delivering the much-awaited verdict nearly 17 years after the blast that killed six people and injured dozens in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon in Maharashtra, the NIA court observed that "Terrorism has no religion because no religion can advocate violence. The court cannot convict anyone merely on perception and moral evidence; there has to be cogent evidence," news agency ANI reported.

The court ru...