#Malegaon 2008 blasts: Apex Court directs NIA to file chargesheet against Lt. Col Srikant Purohit 

#Delhi / #Mumbai : The Supreme Court on Friday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a chargesheet against Lt. Col Srikant Purohit, former military intelligence officer and an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case.

The NIA Court had earlier today filed a compliance report before the apex court, saying that trial in this matter has not commenced because a chargesheet has not yet been filed yet. The Supreme Court then directed the NIA to file chargesheet expeditiously.

The apex court, however, refused to entertain Purohit counsel’s request seeking his release on grounds of delay in the filling of the chargesheet.

The Supreme Court said this was not a matter of discussion as it has already told them to approach the high court for the same.

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had also refused to hear another petition filed by Purohit seeking a stay on the NIA court proceedings to frame charges against him on the basis of a charge sheet filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra in 2009.

Earlier, in September last year, advocate Shrikant Shivde representing Purohit had approached the court seeking in-camera proceedings during the bail application filed by him. He had contended that there was fear of proceedings being ‘misrepresented’ or ‘quoted out of context’. The NIA did not object to the application.

The state ATS had chargesheeted 12 alleged ‘Hindu extremists’, including Lt. Col. Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in the case.