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Sanction order to prosecute Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit valid, says NIA court

The court held that the orders which were passed against him by the State's Home department and the Director of Prosecution (DoP) were very much valid.

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Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit
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The Special National Investigating Agency (NIA) court on Saturday rejected the application filed by Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, an accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, where he had challenged the sanction order passed to prosecute him against the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) charges. The court held that the orders which were passed against him by the State's Home department and the Director of Prosecution (DoP) were very much valid.

"Both the Sanctioning orders passed by the two authorities, first in 2009 and later in 2011, are valid. Legality of those two will be decided at the time of the trial after an opportunity is given to the sanctioning authorities to enter the witness box. The Home department is empowered to issue a sanction and thus its orders are valid. The matter is very sensitive and thus it is necessary to disclose each and every fact of the case," the court held while passing its orders.

Purohit, in his application, had said that the sanction order which was sought under the UAPA to prosecute him was bad in law, and pleaded the court to discharge him from UAPA charges.

The Bombay High Court had last month rejected Purohit's plea to restrain the trial court from framing charges against him and other accused in the case.

On September 29, 2008, an explosive was allegedly planted in an LML motorcycle opposite Shakil Goods Transport in Malegaon which had claimed six lives and injured 101 people. The investigation, carried out by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) led by Hemant Karkare, unearthed the alleged involvement of the Hindu terror group, Abhinav Bharat. The first arrest was of Sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur. The further probe took these officials to several cities including Pune, Nashik, Bhopal, and Indore. The visits to these cities led to the arrests of Army officer Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit and retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay. Later the NIA took over the investigation in the case.

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