Omkar Gokhale.The Bombay High Court today directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to submit in a sealed cover a list of witnesses it wishes to examine in relation to the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts..A Division Bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and AM Badar was hearing a plea filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts. Purohit had asked for the chargesheet as well as the names of all witnesses in the case to be disclosed..The NIA has a list of 186 witnesses. The names and statements of some of the witnesses have not been disclosed, in the interests of protection..Purohit’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade told the High Court that the Special NIA court hearing the Malegaon blasts case is currently recording the evidence of the prosecution witnesses. As the names of some of the witnesses have been kept under wraps, the cross-examination in the case would not be possible, he submitted..NIA counsel Sandesh Patil told the Court that the prosecution will disclose the names of witnesses it wishes to examine in a sealed envelope by July 22. The NIA also submitted that it would not call any of those witnesses to be examined before the Special Court for recording of evidence till next Monday..The Court proceeded to direct the NIA to give the list to the Special Court as well..The High Court, while citing the Supreme Court’s judgment in Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab, noted that the NIA should have had submitted the list to the Special NIA Court in a sealed cover earlier..In the Kartar Singh case, the Supreme Court had held that courts dealing with terrorism cases have a discretion to keep the identity of witnesses secret upon certain contingencies..In October last year, a Special Court framed charges against Purohit, BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, and other accused persons under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)..Purohit had filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court claiming that he was charged under UAPA without legal sanction. He had even approached the Supreme Court, which had asked the High Court to decide the matter. .Six people were killed and over 100 injured on September 29, 2008, when an explosive device placed on a motorbike went off near a mosque at Malegaon.
Omkar Gokhale.The Bombay High Court today directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to submit in a sealed cover a list of witnesses it wishes to examine in relation to the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts..A Division Bench of Justices Indrajit Mahanty and AM Badar was hearing a plea filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts. Purohit had asked for the chargesheet as well as the names of all witnesses in the case to be disclosed..The NIA has a list of 186 witnesses. The names and statements of some of the witnesses have not been disclosed, in the interests of protection..Purohit’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade told the High Court that the Special NIA court hearing the Malegaon blasts case is currently recording the evidence of the prosecution witnesses. As the names of some of the witnesses have been kept under wraps, the cross-examination in the case would not be possible, he submitted..NIA counsel Sandesh Patil told the Court that the prosecution will disclose the names of witnesses it wishes to examine in a sealed envelope by July 22. The NIA also submitted that it would not call any of those witnesses to be examined before the Special Court for recording of evidence till next Monday..The Court proceeded to direct the NIA to give the list to the Special Court as well..The High Court, while citing the Supreme Court’s judgment in Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab, noted that the NIA should have had submitted the list to the Special NIA Court in a sealed cover earlier..In the Kartar Singh case, the Supreme Court had held that courts dealing with terrorism cases have a discretion to keep the identity of witnesses secret upon certain contingencies..In October last year, a Special Court framed charges against Purohit, BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, and other accused persons under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)..Purohit had filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court claiming that he was charged under UAPA without legal sanction. He had even approached the Supreme Court, which had asked the High Court to decide the matter. .Six people were killed and over 100 injured on September 29, 2008, when an explosive device placed on a motorbike went off near a mosque at Malegaon.
