The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit, who has been in jail for more than eight years in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast.
The court pointed out contradictions in the chargesheets filed by different investigating agencies in connection with the blast that had killed seven people in the communally-sensitive textile town in north Maharashtra's Nashik district.
Purohit, Pragya Singh Thakur and others were arrested on conspiracy charges in 2008. The case was transferred from the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) to the Centre's National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2011. On April 25, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Thakur, observing there was "no prima facie evidence against her." However, Purohit was denied a similar relief.
Among the conditions imposed by the apex court while granting bail to Purohit was that he will not leave India without prior permission of the court and not directly or indirectly make any inducement to any witnesses.
While granting bail, the Supreme Court maintained that the NIA's supplementary chargesheet varied with the main chargesheet filed by the Maharashtra ATS. "...the trial is likely to take a long time and the appellant has been in prison for about 8 years and 8 months...," a bench of Justices RK Agarwal and AM Sapre said.
Purohit's arrest had come as a shocker. He was the first serving Army officer to be held on terror charges.
The top court, however, said a balance is required between the personal liberty of the accused and the investigation rights of the agency.
The court also said that the grievous nature of the crime should not influence his right to bail. "The grant or denial is regulated, to a large extent, by the facts and circumstances of each particular case. But at the same time, right to bail is not to be denied merely because of the sentiments of the community against the accused."
The court, however, made it clear that the grant of bail to Purohit shall be no ground for similar relief to other accused in the case, and that each plea for relief will be considered on its own merit.
The 4,000-page chargesheet had alleged that Malegaon was selected as the blast target because of a sizeable Muslim population there.
Purohit told the Supreme Court that he was a victim caught in a "political crossfire" and has been languishing in jail without any charges being framed against him.
He submitted that he was an Army officer attached to the intelligence branch and was directed by his superiors to infiltrate the banned outfit Abhinav Bharat whose members have been accused of orchestrating the blast.
"Allegation against me is that I supplied RDX on the conspiracy hatched by Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. Now, if she is enlarged on bail and given a clean chit by NIA, then the link between me and her is snapped," senior advocate Harish Salve said in Purohit's defence.
"Yes, I attended certain meetings (of Abhinav Bharat), but as a military mole. I have been doing my duty," Salve said on Purohit's behalf.
Charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) were also dropped against Purohit by the apex court in 2015.
In its response, the NIA had objected to Purohit's bail plea, saying there was ample evidence against him.
Nissar Ahmed, the father of one of the blast victims, had challenged Thakur's bail on the grounds that the charges levelled against her were serious in nature.
The Maharashtra ATS had filed a chargesheet against 14 persons, including Purohit and Thakur. However, in a separate chargesheet filed by the NIA, Thakur was given a clean chit.
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