<p>In a partial relief to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others who face trial under an anti-terror law in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, the court dropped provisions under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused.</p>

<p>However, the court said the accused persons will face trial under sections 16 (committing a terror act) and 18 (criminal conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and sections 120(b) (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (intentionally causing harm to others) of the IPC.</p>

<p>Dismissing her applications for discharge, the Special NIA court in its order said that Sadhvi Pragya cannot be exonerated of conspiracy charges as she was aware of the motorcycle was being used for this conspiracy.</p>

<p>The dropping of MCOCA charges is a big relief and we will fight the UAPA charges, said Aparna Purohit, wife of Col. Purohit.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Malegaon blasts case: Sadhvi Pragya ,Ramesh Upadhyay Ajay Rahikar, Lt Col Purohit discharged under MCOCA and 17, 20 and 13 of UAPA and arms act <a href="https://t.co/xIAecCifwZ">pic.twitter.com/xIAecCifwZ</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945972107128606720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Apart from Sadhvi and Purohit, the accused who will now face trial in the case are: Sudhakar Dwivedi, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar.</p>

<p>Two accused - Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde - will face trial only under the Arms Act, the court said.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Malegaon blasts case: Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit will be tried under UAPA section 18 and other charges of IPC</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945972296652537858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The court has asked all the accused persons to appear before it on January 15 for the formal framing of charges against them.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Malegaon blasts case: All accused are already out on bail and will continue to be on bail, All previous bonds and sureties are to continue according to special NIA Court <a href="https://t.co/iZnJPl1H8a">pic.twitter.com/iZnJPl1H8a</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/945973744006193152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Purohit and the another accused Sameer Kulkarni have been out on bail since August this year.</p>

<p>On September 29, 2008, there was a bomb explosion near Bhiku Chowk at Malegaon in Nashik district, killing six persons and injuring several others.</p>

<p>The blast took place by an improvised explosive device (IED) fitted upon an LML Freedom motorcycle.</p>


In 2008 at least six people were killed and about 100 were injured after an explosion by a bomb tied to a motorcycle in Nashik's Malegaon, Maharashtra

In a partial relief to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and six others who face trial under an anti-terror law in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case, the court dropped provisions under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused. However, the court said the accused persons will face trial under sections 16 (committing a terror act) and 18 (criminal conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and sections 120(b) (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (intentionally causing harm to others) of the IPC. Dismissing her applications for discharge, the Special NIA court in its order said that Sadhvi Pragya cannot be exonerated of conspiracy charges as she was aware of the motorcycle was being used for this conspiracy. The dropping of MCOCA charges is a big relief and we will fight the UAPA charges, said Aparna Purohit, wife of Col. Purohit. Malegaon blasts case: Sadhvi Pragya ,Ramesh Upadhyay Ajay Rahikar, Lt Col Purohit discharged under MCOCA and 17, 20 and 13 of UAPA and arms act pic.twitter.com/xIAecCifwZ — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × Apart from Sadhvi and Purohit, the accused who will now face trial in the case are: Sudhakar Dwivedi, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahirkar. Two accused - Jagdish Mhatre and Rakesh Dhawde - will face trial only under the Arms Act, the court said. Malegaon blasts case: Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit will be tried under UAPA section 18 and other charges of IPC — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × The court has asked all the accused persons to appear before it on January 15 for the formal framing of charges against them. Malegaon blasts case: All accused are already out on bail and will continue to be on bail, All previous bonds and sureties are to continue according to special NIA Court pic.twitter.com/iZnJPl1H8a — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017 × Purohit and the another accused Sameer Kulkarni have been out on bail since August this year. On September 29, 2008, there was a bomb explosion near Bhiku Chowk at Malegaon in Nashik district, killing six persons and injuring several others. The blast took place by an improvised explosive device (IED) fitted upon an LML Freedom motorcycle.

Malegaon blasts case: Partial relief for Sadhvi Pragya, Col Purohit

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>The court said bail was conditional and the accused had been asked not to tamper with evidence.<br />
<br />
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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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;</p>

<p>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;</p>

<p>A special MCOCA court later ruled that the ATS had wrongly applied the law against the Sadhvi, Lt Col Purohit and nine others.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Both Sadhvi Pragya, a former Vishwa Hindu Parishad&nbsp;member, and Lt Col Purohit were arrested the same year.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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;</p>

<p>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;</p>

<p>The court had also&nbsp;accused Purohit of arranging explosives for the blast.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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;.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


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

A special court today rejected the bail plea of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, one of the 12 accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, at a hearing in India&rsquo;s western Mumbai city.<br />
<br />
Special judge S D Tekale passed the order in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court, Indian news agency PTI reported.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Purohit had appealed for the bail contending that the NIA had dropped the charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case and that he was in the jail for the last seven years without trial, according to the news agency. He insisted that he had no role in the blast.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
The NIA, however, had objected to his bail plea saying that these arguments should be taken into consideration during the trial and not at this stage, the prosecution had said. There was enough evidence against Purohit, it added.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
While filing the bail plea, Purohit had earlier claimed that the Abhinav Bharat Trust, that the NIA claimed was used to procure the weapons and explosives used for the blast, was formed keeping senior army officers in the loop and was to be registered as a political party, according to ANI news agency.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
NIA, on the other hand, had claimed in its chargesheet&nbsp;that Purohit &nbsp;had flouted rules of the service by forming the outfit in the year 2006 despite being an army man, according to ANI.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
The investigating agency said Purohit and the other accused collected funds for the outfit to buy weapons.<br />
<br />
However, Purohit had reportedly said in his bail plea that he was acting in discharge of his duty to gather more intelligence.<br />
<br />
&quot;The circumstances show Abhinav Bharat was to become a political party and even a registration form for the same was found through the sources of the accused,&quot; reads the bail plea.<br />
<br />
Lt Col Purohit is one among the 12 alleged &lsquo;Hindu extremists&rsquo; named in the&nbsp;chargesheet by the state&#39;s anti-terrorism squad (ATS), apart from key accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a hardline Hindu leader.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit is one among the 12 accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case

A special court today rejected the bail plea of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, one of the 12 accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, at a hearing in India’s western Mumbai city. Special judge S D Tekale passed the order in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court, Indian news agency PTI reported. Purohit had appealed for the bail contending that the NIA had dropped the charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case and that he was in the jail for the last seven years without trial, according to the news agency. He insisted that he had no role in the blast. The NIA, however, had objected to his bail plea saying that these arguments should be taken into consideration during the trial and not at this stage, the prosecution had said. There was enough evidence against Purohit, it added. While filing the bail plea, Purohit had earlier claimed that the Abhinav Bharat Trust, that the NIA claimed was used to procure the weapons and explosives used for the blast, was formed keeping senior army officers in the loop and was to be registered as a political party, according to ANI news agency. NIA, on the other hand, had claimed in its chargesheet that Purohit had flouted rules of the service by forming the outfit in the year 2006 despite being an army man, according to ANI. The investigating agency said Purohit and the other accused collected funds for the outfit to buy weapons. However, Purohit had reportedly said in his bail plea that he was acting in discharge of his duty to gather more intelligence. "The circumstances show Abhinav Bharat was to become a political party and even a registration form for the same was found through the sources of the accused," reads the bail plea. Lt Col Purohit is one among the 12 alleged ‘Hindu extremists’ named in the chargesheet by the state's anti-terrorism squad (ATS), apart from key accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a hardline Hindu leader. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Malegaon bomb blast: Special court rejects Lt Col Purohit's bail plea

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Malegaon blasts case: Partial relief for Sadhvi Pragya, Col Purohit

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

Malegaon bomb blast: Special court rejects Lt Col Purohit's bail plea