Mumbai, Aug. 1 -- After holding that the Prosecution had failed to produce any "cogent evidence" against the accused, a Special NIA Court on Thursday acquitted all the seven accused - including BJP's former MP Pragya Singh Thakur and ex-Military Intelligence official Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit (Retd) - in the much-discussed 2008 Malegaon blasts case.

Nearly 17 years after a massive explosion rocked the communally sensitive town of Malegaon in north Maharashtra, Special Judge AK Lahoti extended "benefit of doubt" to all the seven accused, including Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit (Retd) and acquitted them on the ground that the Prosecution had failed to bring in "cogent evidence" against them.

Observing that "terrorism has no rel...