Malegaon blast: SC reserves order on Purohit’s bail plea

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved order on a plea for bail by retired army officer Prasad Shrikant Purohit, the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast which killed seven people.

The bench of Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre reserved the order as Lt Col Purohit (retd) told the court that he was in jail for the last nine years and was entitled to be granted bail.

Senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Purohit, told the court that till date charges have not been framed against him.

Telling the court that Purohit was entitled to be given bail, he said that the charges under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) against his client have already been dropped.

Denying his involvement in the incident, Purohit told the court that even assuming that the charges that he had supplied the bomb were true, even then he would have to be out of jail as the offence attracted a maximum of seven years imprisonment.

Appearing for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh opposed the bail plea, saying there was evidence of his involvement in the Malegaon blast.

Purohit has challenged the April 25 Bombay High Court order which granted bail to another accused, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur but rejected his plea.

At least seven persons were killed in the explosion in Malegaon in Nashik district on September 29, 2008.

On a plea by Nisar Ahmed Haji Sayed Bilal, father of one of the blast victims, seeking the cancellation of bail granted to the Sadhvi, the court said that it would be heard on October 10.

Bilal moved the apex court alleging that she was a "powerful person" and could influence the witnesses in the case.

The investigating agencies had earlier allegedly attributed the blast to right-wing group Abhinav Bharat.