Malegaon blast case: Supreme Court tells Maharashtra govt to respond to Shrikant Purohit's plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Maharashtra government’s response on a plea by 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit. In the plea, Purohit challenged the proceedings against him under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 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 declined to interfere with the trial court proceedings in the matter. [caption id=“attachment_3970607” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit. PTI[/caption] Earlier, the Bombay High Court had dismissed the plea by Purohit. 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 Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, had decided to proceed against him under other provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. 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.