SC notice to Centre over trying to protect saffron terrorists

New Delhi, Sep 12: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre and the Maharashtra government over a plea made by bureaucrat-turned-activist Harsh Mander seeking its intervention to ensure fair trial in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case.

A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Abhay Manohar Sapre also admitted a petition filed by victim Nisar Ahmed for hearing in the next week. Both Mander and Ahmed accused the NDA government of trying to interfere with the functioning of the public prosecutor in the case by pressurising her “to go soft” on the accused.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaising and advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for the petitioner also sought stay on the proceedings before the trial court.

The apex court, however, refused to pass any order, saying that the matter would be heard next week.

The court directed the Centre, the Maharashtra government and National Investigating Agency (NIA) to file their response on the petitions.

Advocate Neela Gokhale, appearing for the jailed accused, urged the court not to stay proceedings before the trial court which was likely to take up plea for bail as per the previous direction of the apex court.

The apex court had on April 15 expressed prima facie reservations over charging Malegaon blasts accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit with the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, giving them an opportunity to seek bail, six years after their incarceration.

Gokhale’s plea for making an accused a party in the case was opposed by Sibal, who contended that they did not have any right to be heard in this case. In a PIL, Mander said that NIA officials had pressured Rohini Salian, former Special Public Prosecutor in the case, “to go soft on the accused presumably under instructions from their political masters.”

He sought probe into the circumstances in which NIA officers tried to influence then prosecutor.The Malegaon blast, on September 29, 2008, claimed four lives and injured 79 while another blast at the same time in Modasa in Gujarat killed one.

A group of Muslim youths were initially arrested as accused in the case but Maharashtra ATS led by Hemant Karkare concluded that the blasts were reportedly the handiwork of extremist Hindu organisations. 12 people including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit were arrested. Of the 12 who were arrested, four are out on bai1.