The Special NIA court in Mumbai has directed all accused of Malegaon 2008 blast case to remain present before the court at least once a week.

The court on Friday&nbsp;expressed displeasure over the&nbsp;absence of Sadhvi Pragya and&nbsp;Lt Col Prasad Purohit from the courtroom.

Bharatiya Janata Party's Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is among the seven accused facing trial in the Malegaon blast case, wherein six people were killed and a dozen others were injured. The bomb that was placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon on September 29, 2008.

Next hearing in the matter has been scheduled for May 20.

Bharatiya Janata Party has been drawing flak from the opposition since they gave the ticket to Sadhvi Pragya for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Sadhvi&nbsp;was fielded from Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal constituency against Congress veteran leader Digvijay Singh.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Special NIA court in Mumbai has directed all accused of Malegaon 2008 blast case to remain present before the court at least once a week. The court on Friday expressed displeasure over the absence of Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Prasad Purohit from the courtroom.

The Special NIA court in Mumbai has directed all accused of Malegaon 2008 blast case to remain present before the court at least once a week. The court on Friday expressed displeasure over the absence of Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Prasad Purohit from the courtroom. Bharatiya Janata Party's Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is among the seven accused facing trial in the Malegaon blast case, wherein six people were killed and a dozen others were injured. The bomb that was placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon on September 29, 2008. Next hearing in the matter has been scheduled for May 20. Bharatiya Janata Party has been drawing flak from the opposition since they gave the ticket to Sadhvi Pragya for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sadhvi was fielded from Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal constituency against Congress veteran leader Digvijay Singh. (With inputs from agencies)

NIA court expresses displeasure over absence of Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Col Purohit 

The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted interim bail to Lt Col Shrikant&nbsp;Purohit, accused of plotting the Malegaon bomb blasts in 2008 that claimed seven&nbsp;lives.

A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre&nbsp;said it had aside the order of Bombay High court while granting bail to&nbsp;the accused.

The court said bail was conditional and the accused had been asked not to tamper with evidence. 
 
In April, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya, a co-accused in the case, but rejected Lt Col Purohit&#39;s plea on the grounds that the charges against him were grave in nature.

Purohit, who has been serving his term in a prison in Maharashtra,&nbsp;had moved the top court against the high court order the same month.

On August 17, he&nbsp;told the top court that he has been caught in the &quot;political crossfire&quot; and has been languishing in jail for nine years.

Senior lawyer Harish Salve, who appeared for Lt Col Purohit, also argued that charges had still not been framed against him. He contended that that charges under Maharashtra&#39;s stringent anti-terrorism law, the MCOCA &nbsp;(Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), had been dropped against the accused and so he should be granted interim bail. &nbsp;

The high court had said that prima facie no case was made out against Sadhvi Pragya, given a clean chit last year by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which took over the probe from Maharashtra&#39;s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2011. The NIA had said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Pragya and five others accused in the case. It recommended prosecuting Lt Col Purohit for conspiracy and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.&nbsp;

A special MCOCA court later ruled that the ATS had wrongly applied the law against the Sadhvi, Lt Col Purohit and nine others.

Seven&nbsp;people were killed and nearly 100 others injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in Nasik&nbsp;district&#39;s Malegaon town&nbsp;on September 29, 2008.

Both Sadhvi Pragya, a former Vishwa Hindu Parishad&nbsp;member, and Lt Col Purohit were arrested the same year.

As per investigating agencies, the Malegaon blast was allegedly carried out by the right-wing extremist group the Abhinav Bharat of which Purhohit is a member.

While rejecting Purohit&#39;s bail plea, the high court refused to accept Purohit&#39;s contention that he had attended the meetings of the Abhinav Bharat as part of a &quot;covert military intelligence operation.&quot;

The high court had referred to the report of the NIA and said &quot;Purohit was the one who prepared a separate &#39;Constitution&#39; for &#39;Hindu Rashtra&#39; with a separate saffron colour flag. He also discussed taking revenge for the atrocities committed by the Muslims on Hindus.&quot;

The court had also&nbsp;accused Purohit of arranging explosives for the blast.

The court had also pointed out the statements of the witnesses that it was Purohit who said the Abhinav Bharat should not be just a political party but an organisation of extremists with the capacity to eliminate persons.

Purohit had argued that the NIA was &quot;selective&quot; in exonerating some accused persons and had made him a &quot;scapegoat&quot;. He also contends that the statements of the witnesses against him were &quot;fabricated&quot;. 
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In April, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya, a co-accused in the case, but rejected Lt Col Purohit's plea on the grounds that the charges against him were grave in nature.

The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted interim bail to Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, accused of plotting the Malegaon bomb blasts in 2008 that claimed seven lives. A bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre said it had aside the order of Bombay High court while granting bail to the accused. The court said bail was conditional and the accused had been asked not to tamper with evidence. In April, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya, a co-accused in the case, but rejected Lt Col Purohit's plea on the grounds that the charges against him were grave in nature. Purohit, who has been serving his term in a prison in Maharashtra, had moved the top court against the high court order the same month. On August 17, he told the top court that he has been caught in the "political crossfire" and has been languishing in jail for nine years. Senior lawyer Harish Salve, who appeared for Lt Col Purohit, also argued that charges had still not been framed against him. He contended that that charges under Maharashtra's stringent anti-terrorism law, the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), had been dropped against the accused and so he should be granted interim bail. The high court had said that prima facie no case was made out against Sadhvi Pragya, given a clean chit last year by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which took over the probe from Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2011. The NIA had said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Pragya and five others accused in the case. It recommended prosecuting Lt Col Purohit for conspiracy and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A special MCOCA court later ruled that the ATS had wrongly applied the law against the Sadhvi, Lt Col Purohit and nine others. Seven people were killed and nearly 100 others injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in Nasik district's Malegaon town on September 29, 2008. Both Sadhvi Pragya, a former Vishwa Hindu Parishad member, and Lt Col Purohit were arrested the same year. As per investigating agencies, the Malegaon blast was allegedly carried out by the right-wing extremist group the Abhinav Bharat of which Purhohit is a member. While rejecting Purohit's bail plea, the high court refused to accept Purohit's contention that he had attended the meetings of the Abhinav Bharat as part of a "covert military intelligence operation." The high court had referred to the report of the NIA and said "Purohit was the one who prepared a separate 'Constitution' for 'Hindu Rashtra' with a separate saffron colour flag. He also discussed taking revenge for the atrocities committed by the Muslims on Hindus." The court had also accused Purohit of arranging explosives for the blast. The court had also pointed out the statements of the witnesses that it was Purohit who said the Abhinav Bharat should not be just a political party but an organisation of extremists with the capacity to eliminate persons. Purohit had argued that the NIA was "selective" in exonerating some accused persons and had made him a "scapegoat". He also contends that the statements of the witnesses against him were "fabricated".

Supreme Court grants bail to Malegaon blast accused Lt Col Shrikant Purohit

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NIA court expresses displeasure over absence of Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Col Purohit

Supreme Court grants bail to Malegaon blast accused Lt Col Shrikant Purohit