The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to four accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case.

A division bench of Justices I A Mahanty and A M Badar granted bail to Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Narwaria and Rajendra Chaudhary.

"The petitions are allowed. The applicants shall be released on cash bail of Rs 50,000. They shall attend the special court on each day during the trial and shall not tamper with evidence or contact witnesses," the bench said.

The four, who are in jail since their arrest in 2013, had approached the high court in 2016 after a special court rejected their bail pleas in June that year.

The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon near Nashik on September 8, 2006, claimed 37 lives and injured over 100 people.

Maharashtra's Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), which first probed the case, had initially arrested nine accused from the minority community. The case was later handed over to the CBI, which followed the same line of investigation.

When the probe was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) later, it concluded that the blasts were carried out by people belonging to the majority community.

The NIA decided to drop charges against the nine accused and booked Singh, Sharma, Narwaria and Chaudhary. The special trial court in 2016 accepted the NIA's stand and discharged the nine accused.

Apart from seeking bail, Singh and others had challenged the discharge of the nine men. The four accused also challenged the special court's order rejecting their own applications seeking discharge.

Those appeals will be heard by the high court at a later stage.

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to four accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case. A division bench of Justices I A Mahanty and A M Badar granted bail to Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Narwaria and Rajendra Chaudhary.

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to four accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts case. A division bench of Justices I A Mahanty and A M Badar granted bail to Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Narwaria and Rajendra Chaudhary. "The petitions are allowed. The applicants shall be released on cash bail of Rs 50,000. They shall attend the special court on each day during the trial and shall not tamper with evidence or contact witnesses," the bench said. The four, who are in jail since their arrest in 2013, had approached the high court in 2016 after a special court rejected their bail pleas in June that year. The serial bomb blasts outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon near Nashik on September 8, 2006, claimed 37 lives and injured over 100 people. Maharashtra's Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), which first probed the case, had initially arrested nine accused from the minority community. The case was later handed over to the CBI, which followed the same line of investigation. When the probe was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) later, it concluded that the blasts were carried out by people belonging to the majority community. The NIA decided to drop charges against the nine accused and booked Singh, Sharma, Narwaria and Chaudhary. The special trial court in 2016 accepted the NIA's stand and discharged the nine accused. Apart from seeking bail, Singh and others had challenged the discharge of the nine men. The four accused also challenged the special court's order rejecting their own applications seeking discharge. Those appeals will be heard by the high court at a later stage.

Bombay High Court grants bail to four accused in Malegaon blasts case 

The father of one of the victims of the 2008 Malegaon blast moved the special NIA court here Thursday, urging it to bar prime accused Sadhvi <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/digvijaya-singh-needed-proper-challenger-bjps-ram-madhav-on-pragya-thakur-211565">Pragya Singh Thakur</a> from contesting the Lok Sabha election.

The application was filed by Nisar Sayeed, who lost his son in the blast, a day after the BJP fielded Thakur from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat against Congress veteran Digvijay Singh.

Special National Investigation Agency cases judge V S Padalkar sought replies from both the NIA and Thakur and posted the matter for Monday.

The applicant sought that Thakur, who is out on bail, be asked to attend court proceedings in Mumbai and be barred from contesting the election as the trial is in progress.

It further mentioned that Thakur got bail on health grounds. If she was "healthy enough to fight elections in the crippling summers heat", then she has misled the court, the complainant alleged.&nbsp;

A petition seeking cancellation of her bail was pending before the Supreme Court, it said.

Six people were killed and over a hundred injured in a bomb blast at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Thakur and others in the case, alleging that they were part of a Hindu extremist group which carried out the blast.

The NIA later gave Thakur a clean chit, but the court did not discharge Thakur.

It dropped charges against her under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, but she is still facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code sections.

The father of one of the victims of the 2008 Malegaon blast moved the special NIA court here Thursday, urging it to bar prime accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from contesting the Lok Sabha election.

The father of one of the victims of the 2008 Malegaon blast moved the special NIA court here Thursday, urging it to bar prime accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from contesting the Lok Sabha election. The application was filed by Nisar Sayeed, who lost his son in the blast, a day after the BJP fielded Thakur from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat against Congress veteran Digvijay Singh. Special National Investigation Agency cases judge V S Padalkar sought replies from both the NIA and Thakur and posted the matter for Monday. The applicant sought that Thakur, who is out on bail, be asked to attend court proceedings in Mumbai and be barred from contesting the election as the trial is in progress. It further mentioned that Thakur got bail on health grounds. If she was "healthy enough to fight elections in the crippling summers heat", then she has misled the court, the complainant alleged. A petition seeking cancellation of her bail was pending before the Supreme Court, it said. Six people were killed and over a hundred injured in a bomb blast at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Thakur and others in the case, alleging that they were part of a Hindu extremist group which carried out the blast. The NIA later gave Thakur a clean chit, but the court did not discharge Thakur. It dropped charges against her under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, but she is still facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code sections.

Malegaon victim's father asks court to ban Sadhvi from contesting polls

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;. 
&nbsp;

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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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Bombay High Court grants bail to four accused in Malegaon blasts case

Malegaon victim's father asks court to ban Sadhvi from contesting polls

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