Malegaon blast case: Bombay High Court rejects discharge plea of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit
On September 29, 2008, the Malegaon bomb blasts took place in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit were among those who were arrested in connection with the blast.
FollowBombay High Court on Monday (January 2) rejected the discharge plea filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, a prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. A two-bench judge comprising Justices AS Gadkari and Prakash Naik dismissed Purohit's appeal stating that causing a bomb blast is not an official duty.
In 2008, Purohit was arrested and charged under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and various other offences. BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and five others were also accused in the Malegaon blast that killed six people and injured over 101.
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The Bench said that Purohit was not on duty when the bombing conspiracy was being formed at the Abhinav Bharat meetings.
The decision was taken after Purohit appealed a lower court ruling that had denied his request for discharge on the grounds that the Centre lacked the legal authority to press charges against a serving army commander.
Purohit, a serving army officer, was charged with a crime after it was discovered that he had attended meetings of Abhinav Bharat.
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It can be seen that Purohit applied for discharge from the Malegaon blast case on the basis of two grounds. First, Purohit said that he had been attending the meetings after informing his superiors about the same and also claimed to have been on duty at the same time.
Second, since he was a serving officer, the prosecution agency was required to obtain sanction from the requisite authorities, and they had obtained an improper sanction.
On September 29, 2008, the Malegaon bomb blasts took place in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit were among those who were arrested in connection with the blast.
