Malegaon blast: For non-appearance in court, bailable warrant issued against ATS officer

On Monday, a Special NIA court issued a Rs10,000 bailable order against an ATS officer for failing to appear in court to record his statement in the Malegaon 2008 Blasts case trial.
The officer in question was a member of the ATS’s initial investigation team and had recorded statements from various witnesses in the case. On May 2, the judge has ordered him to remain in court to record his statement.

Previously, in March, the Supreme Court denied Lt. Col Prasad Purohit’s petition challenging the Bombay High Court order dismissing his petition seeking discharge in the Malegaon 2008 blast case due to a lack of sanction from the Indian Army to prosecute him in the case under section 197(2) of the CrPC.

The Supreme Court remarked that the challenge here is against the High Court’s order, which stated that sanction is not required under section 197(2) of the Cr.P.C. for the petitioner’s prosecution because his impugned conduct is unrelated to any of his official obligations.
“Having noted the basis of the impugned judgment, we see no reason to interfere with it,” the court ruled.
Six persons were murdered and over 100 others were injured on September 29, 2008, when an explosive device put on a motorbike exploded in Maharashtra’s Malegaon city in Nashik town.

Later, Sameer Kulkarni, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahilkar, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi were apprehended.
After completing its investigation, the ATS submitted a charge sheet in the matter on January 20, 2009.
The inquiry into the matter was handed over to the NIA by the national government in April 2011.