Mumbai: In a major relief to former Major (retd.) Ramesh Upadhyay, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted him bail. The court accommodated him on the ground of ‘parity’ since prime accused Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur and Colonel S P Purohit are already out of jail. Upadhyay was arrested in October 2008. Advocate Sandesh Patil, who appeared for the National Investigations Agency, vehemently opposed Upadhyay’s plea.
The judges have directed Upadhyay to shell out of Rs One lakh as bail bond. According to the NIA, Upadhyay was in agreement with Purohit’s theory of a separate constitution for Hindu Rashtra and a separate flag. The agency had chargesheeted Upadhyay after relying on the ‘intercepted conversations’ between him and Purohit.
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After Upadhyay’s bail, only two accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, Sameer Kulkarni and Rakesh Dhavade, continue to remain in prison. Seven are out on bail. According to special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal, Kulkarni moved a plea before the special court seeking bail on Tuesday.
However, Dhavade is not likely to apply for bail as he needs time to do research work for his books, which he has been writing in the jail. Till now Sadhvi Pragya, Col. Purohit, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi, Ajay Rahirkar and Chintaman Mhatre have got bail in the case.
