“No Place To Live”: Malegaon Blast Accused Asks Court To Cancel Bail

New Delhi:

Sudhakar Chaturvedi, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, has requested the Special NIA court to cancel his bail and to take him into custody again as he does not have an accommodation in Mumbai to attend day-to-day hearings in the trial.

Mr Chaturvedi, in his application before the court, said that he is unable to attend the statement recording on a day-to-day basis as he does not live in Mumbai but is from north India and it is difficult to find accommodation in Mumbai for such a long period when the recording of CrPC 313 statements are expected to go in for a few months at least.

He has also mentioned in his application that he has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against ATS officers who allegedly committed atrocities against him during the investigation of the case, but that application has been pending in the HC since 2013.

Maharashtra Home Department is not complying with the High Court order for over 10 years, he alleged.

Sudhakar Chaturvedi’s lawyer also agreed with the fact that there is no provision to take an accused into custody for this reason.

The matter was kept pending for Friday and the court is likely to pass an order on this application on the coming Monday.

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 others were injured after an explosive device placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra’s Malegaon city in Nashik.

All the seven accused in the case are currently on bail.

On October 23, 2008, the Maharashtra ATS made its first arrest in connection to the case by apprehending BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.

Later, other accused including Sameer Kulkarni, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahilkar, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi were also caught.

On January 20, 2009, the ATS filed a charge sheet in the case after completing its investigation. In April 2011, the central government transferred the investigation into the case to the NIA

Earlier on September 14, the NIA filed an application informing the Special NIA Court that it has completed recording evidence and does not need to call any more witnesses for a statement from their side.

The NIA recorded 323 witnesses in this trial, and apart from these, 37 witnesses turned hostile too.

In April 2011, the central government transferred the investigation into the case to the NIA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)