Malegaon blast: HC rejects Lt Col Purohit's plea for discharge from case

Purohit and six others, including BJP MP Prgaya Singh Thakur, are facing trial in the case of the blast that killed six people and left more than 100 injured in 2008. All the accused are currently out

The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit seeking discharge in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Purohit and six others, including BJP MP Prgaya Singh Thakur, are facing trial in the case of the blast that killed six people and left more than 100 injured in September 2008. All the accused are currently out on bail.

Among other grounds for seeking discharge, Purohit had claimed lack of sanction under relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to prosecute him.

However, a bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Prakash Naik rejected his plea, saying the sanction was not needed as "he was not on official duty".

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and more than 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in Maharashtra's Nashik district.

According to the Maharashtra Police that conducted an initial probe into the case, the motorbike to which the explosive was strapped was registered in Pragya Thakur's name, which led to her arrest.

The National Investigation Agency later took over the probe into the case.