SC DECLINES BAIL TO PUROHIT

The Supreme Court on October 4 declined to grant bail to Lieutenant Colonel S.P. Purohit, one of the key accused in the case relating to 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts which killed seven people. “It is a grievous offence. Many people were killed. The trial is still on,” the apex court said when Lt. Col. Purohit’s counsel submitted that the accused was languishing in jail for the past two years. A Bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and T.S. Thakur, however, admitted the appeal filed by Lt. Col. Purohit challenging his prosecution under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and agreed to expedite the hearing. Though co-accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur had filed a similar appeal, it did not come up for hearing. Both the accused have challenged the Bombay High Court’s direction allowing Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to invoke MCOCA against them.