The Gauhati High Court Thursday acquitted five accused in the 2004 Dhemaji bomb blast case in which 13 persons, including 10 children, were killed on Independence Day, stating that the prosecution had not been able to prove the charges against them beyond reasonable doubt. In doing so, the High Court overturned a 2019 judgement by the Dhemaji Sessions Court, which had found six people guilty in the case. The accused – Dipanjali Borgohain, Lila Gogoi, Jatin Dowar, Muhi Handique, Hemen Gogoi and Prasanta Bhuyan – had been accused of being members of the outfit ULFA and the trial court had found them guilty of hatching a conspiracy to plant a bomb. While the first four accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court, Gogoi and Bhuyan were sentenced to four years in jail. The first five accused are appellants in the High Court and were acquitted on Thursday. On August 15, 2004, an explosion took place at 8:55 am in the Dhemaji College ground in Assam where an Independence Day programme was going on. Thirteen people were killed while another 20 people were injured in the blast. Police had alleged that the proscribed militant group, United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), had planted the bomb at the field. “While the offence committed is a serious one and though conviction may be based solely on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must provide greater assistance to the court that its case has been proved beyond reasonable doubt. In essence, not only has the prosecution been unable to prove the foundational facts against the appellants, but the learned trial court has come to a finding based on suspicion and speculation, not supported by the evidence adduced by the prosecution witness,” stated the judgement by a bench of Justice Michael Zothankhuma and Justice Mridul Kumar. The court observed that the circumstantial evidence does not form an unbroken chain that leads to the “only possible inference” that the appellants are guilty. It added that there is “no evidence at all” apart from statements made under Section 164 of the CrPC, by Jatin Dowari, which were later retracted by him and which the court stated, are “not supported by evidence”. The court also ruled that Dowari’s retracted “confessional statement” cannot be acted upon because “sufficient assurance was not given” to him before making the statements, as is required procedure, that he would not be sent back to police custody if he does not confess. “There is nothing in the evidence to show that there was any conspiracy made to do any illegal act and there is nothing to prove that they are members of ULFA,” states the judgement, adding that, “as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court, when two views are possible, the view favourable to the accused has to be adopted.” PTI adds The ULFA, which called for a boycott of the Independence Day celebrations, had claimed responsibility for the blast.In 2009, ULFA's self-styled 'Commander-in-Chief' Paresh Barua sought a public apology for the blast.The outfit's pro-talk faction held a round of negotiations with the Centre last week.
