2008 Malegaon blast case: Supreme Court to hear Lt Col Shrikant Purohit's plea challenging his trial sanction today

The Supreme Court on Friday will hear a petition by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit challenging the prosecution sanction for his trial under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), according to media reports. Purohit, a former Indian Army officer, is accused of involvement in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

The Supreme Court in January had sought the Maharashtra government’s response on Purohit’s plea. [caption id=“attachment_3970607” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Shrikant Purohit. PTI[/caption] In the plea, Purohit challenged the proceedings against him under the UAPA by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in the absence of valid sanction from the competent authority. Seeking a response from the Maharashtra government, the bench of Justice RK Agrawal and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre had declined to interfere with the trial court’s proceedings in the matter. Earlier, the Bombay High Court had dismissed Purohit’s plea. The trial court in its 27 December, 2017, order, while discharging Purohit of the offences under the MCOC Act and the offences punishable under certain provisions of the UAPA, had decided to proceed against him under other provisions of the UAPA. Purohit has contended that proceedings against him are in the absence of valid sanction from the competent authorities, and are thus a miscarriage of justice and bad in law. Seven people were killed in a bomb blast on 29 September, 2008, at Malegaon , a communally sensitive textile town in Nashik district of north Maharashtra. Although the case initially made headlines as the first case of saffron terrorism, it remained in public discourse also because of military’s role in the matter after Purohit’s arrest. With inputs from IANS