New Delhi: The Bombay high court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit seeking discharge in the 2008 Malegaon blast case in which six people were killed and more than 100 were injured.
The court made the caustic remark that causing bomb blast is not official duty, according to LiveLaw.
The Indian Army officer sought discharge on the ground that the prosecution did not take sanction under relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). A bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Prakash Naik rejected his plea, saying that sanction from the Union government was not needed because Purohit was “not on official duty”.
Apart from Purohit, six others – including BJP MP Prgaya Singh Thakur – are facing trial in the case. All the accused are currently out on bail.
On September 29, 2008, a device strapped to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in Malegaon. The motorbike was registered in Pragya Thakur’s name, according to the investigation. Though the probe was initially conducted by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), it was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) later.
According to LiveLaw, the chargesheet accuses Purohit and others of wanting to form a government in exile. “They were dissatisfied with the Constitution of India and had wanted to prepare their own constitution,” the chargesheet says, adding that Purohit was responsible for procuring RDX – an explosive chemical – from Kashmir.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here