The Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed 2008 Malegaon bomb blast victim to intervene in plea filed by accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit challenging sanction to prosecute him.
A Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik allowed the intervention on hearing the criminal interim application filed by Nisar Ahmed Haji Sayyed Bilal , a victim and father of a man who died in the blast along with five others.
Former Additional Solicitor General of India B.A. Desai representing Mr. Bilal had earlier sought permission to intervene in the case. He said he has filed for an intervention during the trial and matters before the Supreme Court in the case.
Advocate Neela Gokhale appearing for Mr. Purohit had previously opposed the application and said the plea filed by Mr. Purohit is only challenging the sanction to prosecute him and that his role in the case is restricted to him discharging his official duties as an Army officer. Therefore the intervention application should not be allowed.
Giving the recent account of the Malegaon trial, the National Investigation Agency's counsel Sandesh Patil had said, out of 400 witnesses, 140 have been examined and that the trial was stalled because the presiding judge retired and the new judge has not been able to take charge because of COVID 19. However the trial resumed on November 26 and will be heard in December on a day to day basis.
The matter will now be heard on December 3.
Mr. Purohit is out on bail but 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, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony on him, relevant sections under The Arms Act, The Indian Explosive Substance Act, and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.