The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside the trial of two former officials of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in connection with the alleged kidnapping and disappearance of Dilip Patidar, a witness in the Malegaon 2008 blast case. The Maharashtra government has so far not granted sanction to prosecute them.
In its order passed on April 13, the high court observed that then ATS officials, Rajendra Ghule and Ramesh More, had acted within the discharge of their official duty and therefore, government sanction would be necessary to prosecute them. It said that the CBI, the prosecuting agency in the case, shall be free to obtain sanction under Section 197 (prosecution of judges and public servants) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and to proceed with the case, in case it is granted.