NIA not to oppose bail of 9 arrested for Malegaon: P Chidambaram

In a decision that could come as an embarrassment to Maharashtra's Anti Terror Squad, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today announced that NIA will not oppose the bail pleas of the nine accused arrested by the police in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blast case.

"As far as the NIA is concerned, which is in-charge of investigating the case, they are not opposing the bail. Whether the bail will be granted or not, it is not for me to say. It is for the court to say," Chidambaram told reporters after presenting his ministry's monthly report card.

All the nine are languishing in Arthur Road prison since their arrest in 2006.

Asked whether the move not to oppose the bail meant that the nine people arrested by the ATS were innocent, Chidambaram said "no, until any other person who is involved is actually found and chargesheeted, and until the old chargesheet is revised, we can't come to any conclusion one way or the other."

"But since there is a confession and investigation is in progress in some areas, in some other directions, the NIA has concluded that it is no longer necessary to keep them in judicial custody and, therefore, the NIA will not oppose the bail. But the decision is not of NIA, the decision will be court's decision," the Home Minister said.

The probe by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) has indicated that the ATS of Maharashtra police and the CBI allegedly acted in undue haste in filing chargesheet against the accused, official sources said.