Malegaon blasts case: Purohit’s bail plea rejected

A special NIA court on Monday rejected the second bail application of Army officer Col. Prasad Purohit, observing that there is a prima facie case against him in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case.

Special NIA prosecutor Avinash Rasal confirmed the news and said that the judge has rejected Purohit’s bail plea. The trial is being conducted in-camera and the media is not allowed to attend the court proceedings.

Regarding most of the contentions that Purohit raised, special judge SD Tekale, in his order, said that this is not an appropriate stage to consider these things and the same would be considered during the trial.

In his bail plea, Purohit had claimed that Abhinav Bharat Trust, which the NIA claimed was used to procure weapons and explosives used in the blast, was formed keeping senior Army officers in the loop and was to be registered as a political party.

To prove his claims, Purohit also submitted documents of a Court of Inquiry (CoI) conducted by the Army. However, the judge said that these documents need to be proved as per the Evidence Act and cannot be taken into consideration till then. According to the judge, the authenticity of the documents would be seen during the trial.

Purohit had also challenged the validity of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, saying that the sanctions for prosecution obtained under the Act were defective. The bail application had also pointed towards certain witnesses contradicting their stands in statements given to the ATS and NIA. However, the court said that their versions could not be considered unless they came before the court as witnesses.

“Considering the change in circumstances, we were expecting that the bail application would be allowed this time,” said Aparna, Purohit’s wife, while reacting on the court order. She also said that they do not have any other option but to approach the higher court.