Maharashtra told to notify NIA judge in Malegaon blast case

NEW DELHI: In a bid to expedite the hearing of bail pleas in the Malegaon blast case, the Centre has written to the Maharashtra government to notify National Investigation Agency judge SD Tekale as the court for the case registered under Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act ( MCOCA).

The accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt. Col. Srikant Prasad Purohit, were booked under stringent sections of MCOCA by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad in 2008.

Purohit and Pragya had challenged the applicability of MCOCA before the Supreme Court. On April 15, the court gave them relief and directed the Central government to re-examine the bail pleas of Sadhvi and Purohit. The month-long deadline set by the top court for hearing the bail pleas has passed as there was no judge then and the Centre appointed Tekale only last month.

However, the court could not take up the matter as it was not empowered to decide on a matter which has MCOCA invoked. According to officials, the NIA then decided to approach the state government asking to notify justice Tekale as the MCOCA judge.

The special court will also decide on the applicability of MCOCA in this case. The prosecution has submitted before the lower and higher courts that “Pragya, Purohit and nine others were part of an organised crime syndicate and their involvement in at least two more cases prompted invocation of MCOCA”.