Court says Col Prasad Purohit was the one who prepared a separate ‘Constitution’ for ‘Hindu Rashtra’
The Bombay High Court while turning down the bail plea of Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit in Malegaon blasts case said, "There is more than sufficient evidence on record, like, the transcriptions of the conversations that took place in the various meetings, and also on the Call Detail Record i.e. intercepted telephonic conversation between the Appellant and Accused No.4-Ramesh Upadhyay. These do not, prima facie, support the contention of the Appellant that he was acting under the 'Covert Military Operation' and was also working in discharge of his duties," the court said.
The court also remarked that soon after Sadhvi Pragya Singh's arrest, Purohit did not immediately contact his superior officers in the Army or apprise the police, who were investigating the case, about his role. At least, he would not have any apprehension of being arrested in the case.
Rejecting the bail plea, the court said "reasonable grounds for believing that accusations made against the appellant are prima facie true and that appears to be the reason as to why NIA has also not given a 'clean-chit' to the Appellant, though it has done so in respect of some of the other co-accused."
"It is of waging war against the integrity and unity of the state and, that too, by violent means like exploding the bomb, so as to create terror in the minds of the people," the judges said.
Referring to the charge sheet filed by the NIA, they said, "Purohit was the one who prepared a separate 'Constitution' for 'Hindu Rashtra'. He also discussed about taking revenge for the atrocities committed by the Muslims on Hindus." The HC refused to accept Purohit's contention that he had attended the meetings as part of a "covert military intelligence operation".
AS IT ALL UNFOLDED
September 29, 2008 At least six people are killed and over 70 injured in bomb blasts in a busy market area in Malegaon.
November 5, 2008 The Maharashtra ATS arrest Lt Col Prasad Purohit for allegedly supplying money and explosives.
January 20, 2009 and April 21, 2011 14 charge-sheeted by Maharashtra ATS on January 20, 2009 and April 21, 2011, before special MCOCA court in Mumbai. They include Pragya Thakur, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Lt Col Prasad Purohit among others
July 31, 2009 A special MCOCA court drops charges against all the 11 accused in the case saying none are part of an organised crime syndicate
July 19, 2010 The Maharashtra ATS receives a major boost after the Bombay High Court reinstates MCOCA against the 11 accused
April 1, 2011 Government transfers investigation to NIA
April 15, 2015 The SC sets aside the Bombay HC order, and drops the MCOCA charges, on grounds of hardly any evidence against the accused in the previous cases.
November 7, 2015 The special court for MCOCA rejects the bail application of Sadhvi Pragya,
May 13, 2016 NIA files a second charge sheet, drops charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and three others for lack of evidence against them.
April 17, 2017 The NIA submits in the Supreme Court that it will not oppose bail for accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit as the charge sheet has already been filed.
April 25, 2017 Bail given to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on the condition that she will not try to influence the prosecution witnesses. The court denies bail to Lt Col Purohit
ACCUSED IN THE CASE
The 14 people accused in the case are Pragya Singh Thakur, Ramesh Upadhyay, Shrikant Prasad Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni, Rakesh Dhawade, Sudhakar Dwivedi aka Dayanand Pandey, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Pravin Takalki, Shivnarayan Kalsangra, Shyam Sahu, Ajay alias Raja Rahirkar, Jagdish Mhatre, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange.
Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who are accused in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case as well, were named absconders.
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