The Bombay High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking a departmental inquiry against officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate their actions in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case.
The PIL sought to look in to why officials of the ATS and CBI submitted a chargesheet contradictory to the one filed by National Investigating Agency (NIA).
On Friday, the division bench of Justice P V Hardas and Justice P N Deshmukh dismissed the petition as the petitioner was in no way attached to the blast case.
The judges further said that the PIL held no merit because of this.
The court also took into account the fact that the trial in the special MCOCA court was still pending. Nine of the seven accused have filed for discharge in a case which is also pending. The court declared that it would be premature to take this decision. “The trial court will look into the contentions raised by the accused in their discharge plea and accordingly decide on the evidence of the case during the trial,” said the court in an official statement.
Ejaz Naqvi, lawyer for the petitioner Sayyed Ameen Mustafa had argued about the contradictions in reports of the three departments. “It is the state government’s prerogative to ensure that a fair trial is given to the accused.
Hence a departmental inquiry should be initiated against them,” said Naqvi.
General Darius Khambata, opposing lawyer said, “The evidence led by the agency will be appreciated by the court and only then an order will be passed.
The petitioner has overtaken the process and decided on his own that charge sheet and evidence is contradictory so the accused are fit to be released.”
Bomb blast
Four bombs were planted and exploded in Malegaon on September 8, 2006. The fateful day happened to be Shab-e-Barat, considered auspicious among Muslims, when they assemble to pay their respects to departed relatives.
The debate
NIA,in their chargesheets field in May, had named four accused; Lokesh Sharma, Dhan Singh, Manohar Singh and Rajendra Choudhary, contradicting with the findings of the ATS and CBI.
Malegaon had seen another terror attack in 2008 allegedly by right-wing Hindu groups. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and former Lt. Col. Shrikanth Purohit were arrested in connection with the incident.
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