Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, which provided lawyers to the two victims of the blasts for intervention in opposing bail applications of accused claims success for successfully arguing before court
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
The Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, established to hear the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, today rejected the bail applications of four main accused.
After listening to arguments made by both sides, Special judge S D Tikale turned down bail applications of Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit, Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi alias Swami Amritanand, Rakesh Dhawade and retired major Ramesh Upadhyay.
On September 29, 2008 four people died and 79 were left injured after a blast ripped through Bhiku square opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company in Malegaon.
Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, which provided lawyers for two people who were injured during the blasts and subsequently intervened in opposing bail applications of the accused, claimed success for successfully arguing before court.
Speaking to TwoCircles.net, senior High Court lawyer Sharif Shaikh, who argued before court as an intervener, said, “I had strongly opposed their applications and had put forward a lengthy argument on Saturday. I am happy that the court upheld our contention and rejected four out of five applications.”
“The detailed order is expected to be given by court in the next couple of days, after which we would know the exact grounds on which the court rejected the bails”, Advocate Ansari, assistant lawyer of Shaikh, added.
When asked if the court had allowed bail for the fifth accused- Sadhvi Pragya- Sharif said, “No, the court is yet to hear the complete argument in her case. Her lawyer has not argued before court; once he puts his argument I will oppose her bail application too”.
In April 2015, the Supreme Court, while hearing bail applications of Purohit, had expressed doubt over applicability of stringent MCOCA charges in the case and had asked state to constitute special NIA court to hear the fresh bail applications.
It was believed that after this order, the NIA court would grant bail to Purohit and other accused in the case and revoke charges of MCOCA. However, today’s event marks a departure in this regard.
Gulzar Azmi, legal secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, expressed satisfaction over the rejection of bail and appreciated the work of his legal team in successfully opposing bails as an intervener.
“Our legal team has successfully opposed these bails, I congratulate them. We will also appear as an intervener before the High Court if accused appeal against this order there”, Azmi told TwoCircles.net.
Related:
Malegaon 2008 blasts: NIA court allows victims to intervene in opposing bails of Sadhvi and others