The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided not to oppose the conditional bail granted to Swami Assemanand, chargesheeted in the 2007 Samjhauta blast case, as it did not find any grounds for it.
The Government has also declined to grant permission to challenge a bail order granted to two other accused in Mecca Masjid blasts case — Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma — on the “grounds of parity” since bail had been granted to Bharat Mohal Lal and Tejaram Parmar which had not been challenged by the prosecution.
Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said Swami Aseemanand continued to remain in jail as he “could not comply with the conditions of bail specified” in the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court last August.
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The certified copy of the said order was issued by the court on May 1, 2015. “The NIA examined the feasibility of filing a Special Leave Petition and decided that there were no grounds to challenge the order in Supreme Court,” the Minister said.
PIL filed in SC
In a related development, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday in which a plea has been made seeking an appropriate “writ, direction or order appointing an advocate of eminence and reputation having high standards of integrity as the Special Public Prosecutor for conducting the trial in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case.”
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Seeking a court-monitored investigation into the case, the PIL also wanted a direction to the CBI for registering a case against NIA officials.
Four Improvised Explosive Devices were planted on Samjhauta Express, the only rail link between India and Pakistan, on February 18, 2007, in which 68 lives were lost.