2008 Malegaon blast case: Bombay HC to hear accused Col. Purohit's plea on January 6

The Bombay High Court, on Wednesday, adjourned the hearing of Malegaon blast-accused Lt Colonel Purohit's plea seeking quashing of his prosecution, till January 6.  Purohit, in his petition, argued that the NIA had failed to get a prior sanction from the government as per Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The trial of the  2008 Malegaon blast case commenced on a day-to-day basis in a special NIA court on December 4. 

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Purohit's plea in HC

In his plea, the serving Army officer contended that he had attended 'Abhinav Bharat' meetings before the blast in the discharge of his duties for the Military Intelligence unit. In 2017, the prosecution claimed that Col. Purohit was part of the right-wing group Abhinav Bharat which held meetings at various places in the country, hatching conspiracy and terror plots, at a special NIA court.  With the NIA opposing his plea, the Bombay HC adjourned the hearing on Purohit's plea to December 14. 

Purohit told the court, “No one can doubt my honesty, integrity, and service record,” as per reports. A prior government sanction for Purohit’s prosecution was required since he was a serving Army officer at the time of his arrest, which was provided by the Maharashtra government in 2009. Purohit was also reinstated in the Army in 2017, after spending nine years in jail. 

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What is the Malegaon case?

On September 29, 2008,  six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon.  The ATS team was led by ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was later killed in the 26/11 attacks, arrested seven accused - Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra, Shyam Bhawarlal Sahu, serving Army officer - Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit and others. While the ATS investigation had unearthed that several of the accused may have been involved in other acts of terrorism including the Modasa blast in Gujarat, the Malegaon blast of 2006, the Mecca Masjid Blast in Hyderabad in 2007 and the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast, the MCOCA charges were dropped by a special NIA court.

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Thakur- who was then an ABVP student leader, was later released on bail due to claims of having contracted breast cancer in April 2017. She still faces trial under other criminal provisions including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and has publically claimed 'torture' by Karkare. She has now been elected to Lok Sabha after defeating Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh in 2019 Bhopal Lok Sabha polls.

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