I was discharging my duty: Prasad Purohit

HC tells NIA to respond to Malegaon blast accused’s plea against rejected bail.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file its reply to an appeal filed by Lt. Col Prasad Purohit, the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, against the special NIA court’s order rejecting his bail plea. Purohit’s bail was rejected by the trial court on September 26 this year.

To seek bail, Purohit cited grounds including the findings of an army commission of inquiry that said he had been updating his seniors about his interactions with terror suspects belonging to Abhinav Bharat, who are accused in the case. Purohit’s contention is that he was merely discharging his duty as a military intelligence officer. He also mentioned the fact that the NIA had withdrawn MCOCA charges in the case and that its probe had established that the Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police, in its initial probe, has allegedly planted explosives to implicate a case accused. Purohit also argued that he has already spent seven years in jail without a trial and that since the NIA had concluded its investigation, he deserves to get bail.

A bench headed by Justice Naresh Patil posted the matter for hearing on November 16 along with the bail petition filed by a co-accused in the case, Sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur.

The judges also called for original documents and case papers filed by the ATS of the Maharashtra police and NIA, the two agencies that had probed the case.

In June 2016, the HC had dismissed an appeal filed by Purohit against the trial court’s order rejecting his bail and asked him to approach the trial court afresh. The court had asked the trial court to consider the new material in the supplementary charge sheet filed by the NIA while hearing his bail plea.

Hence, Purohit again moved the trial court for bail, but the same was rejected. Being aggrieved, he again moved the high court, which on Wednesday sought the NIA’s response.