In a significant development, the Bombay High Court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit seeking discharge in the Malegaon blasts case of 2008.
A Military Intelligence (MI) official, Col Purohit, is one of the main accused in the Navratri blast of September 29, 2008, near the Bhikkhu Chowk in which six persons were killed and 101 were injured.
Col Purohit, who was serving in Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested on November 5, 2008, and has been charged with being one of the main conspirators of the blast. He was alleged to be in contact with members of Abhinav Bharat, formed in 2007 to propagate a separate Hindu nation.
On August 22, 2017, he was released on bail after being in custody and jail for nine years.
There are 12 accused in the case including Sadhvi Pragyasingh Chandrapal Singh Thakur, Purohit and Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey alias Swami Amrutanand Devtirth, self-proclaimed Shankaracharya. They are the three main persons in the entire conspiracy.
In his application, Col Purohit has contended that there was a lack of sanction under relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure to prosecute him. “…sanction was not needed as he was not on official duty,” a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice A S Gadkari and Justice Prakash Naik said.
The case was investigated by the Nashik Rural police after which it was taken over by the Anti-Terrorism Squad. The case has now under the National Investigation Agency.
Published 02 January 2023, 12:38 IST