Bombay HC Grants Bail To Four Accused In Malegaon Blasts Case

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to four accused in the 2006 Malegaon blast case which killed 37 and injured over 100 people. The Court allowed the bail applications filed by Dhan Singh, Lokesh Sharma, Manohar Narwaria and Rajendra Chaudhary.

Division bench of Justice IA Mahanty and Justice AM Badar directed the four accused to attend special court each day during the trial and not to tamper with evidence or try to contact any witnesses.

The said accused filed petitions in the High Court in 2016 after Special NIA Court rejected their application seeking bail. They have been in jail since 2013.

The blasts occurred outside a cemetery near Hamidia mosque at Malegaon near Nashik on September 8, 2006 after Friday prayers on Shab-e-Baraat day. According to the Anti-Terrorist Squad which investigated the case in the beginning, the bombs were planted on bicycles. Nine Malegaon with alleged links to the banned SIMI were arrested in relation to the case, then the investigation was taken over by the CBI.

Once National Investigation Agency took over the case in 2011, Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, confessed to the role of Hindu right-wing organisations in the Malegaon 2006 case. Following this confession, the NIA told the court that there was no evidence against the nine Malegaon residents. As a result, Special NIA Court discharged the nine accused.

The four accused had challenged this discharge granted to the nine people who were earlier accused in the case in the same petition and also the Special Court's decision to reject their discharge applications.

For now, the bench decided to grant bail to the accused and set the bail amount at Rs.50,000.