The Bombay High Court on Monday said it will hear Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit’s plea seeking a deferment in framing of charges against him and others in the 2008 Malegaon blasts. The petition challenges the sanction granted to Lt. Col. Purohit to prosecute him in the case, and is before a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and Mridula Bhatkar.
He has been charged with murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth residence, language, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony on him, relevant sections under the Arms Act, the Indian Explosive Substance Act, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
On August 30, the National Investigation Act court said it will frame charges against all the accused in the blasts that killed six and injured 101. Judge Vinod Padalkar said, “The presence of all the accused is necessary to frame charges. A critical situation arises as there is no progress in the matter. No specific stay order has been passed... After the appearance of the accused, the contents of charges will be read out and explained to them, and charges will be framed against them.”
On December 31, 2008, an amendment to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act said if the government wants to prosecute the accused under the Act, it has to form a committee and hand over all the paper work to it. The committee would then give its recommendations to the government, which would take a final decision. However, on January 17, 2009, sanction was granted to prosecute Lt. Col. without the formation of any such committee, which is now being challenged. He is also challenging the lower court’s order rejecting his discharge plea in the case.