By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai : Stating that it was up to the Election Commission whether to allow or not a candidate to contest for the Lok Sabha elections the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday informed the special MCOCA court that it would not have any objection if the accused in Malegaon blast 2008 contest the elections.
The co-accused in Malegaon September blasts retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and self-styled religious leader Dayanand Pandey had approached the special MCOCA court on March 6 and 20 respectively seeking permission to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The former want to contest from Pune while the latter from Jammu and Kashmir as independent candidates. The special MCOCA court had issued a notice to the state government asking whether it had any objection in this regard or not.
While the investigating agency claimed to have no objection the special prosecutor Rohini Salian reportedly said that ATS will object if the accused seek bail under the guise of campaigning for the elections.
Reportedly the court may pass an order in this regard on March 30.
Upadhyay and Pandey are among the 11 accused booked under the stringent MCOCA for their alleged involvement in Malegaon September 29, 2008 bomb blasts that had claimed at least six people while leaving 70 injured.