SC granted bail to Col. Purohit on the basis of NIA charge sheet: Harish Salve

Senior lawyer, Harish Salve, appearing for Lieutenant Colonel Purohit in connection to the 2008 Malegaon serial blasts case on Monday expressed satisfaction over the Supreme Court's verdict and said the bail plea was granted by the court on the basis of the charge sheet filled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

"I am very satisfied, after 9 years he (Colonel Purohit) will be with his family," Salve told ANI here.

He said that chargesheet filed by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) was contradictory, hence the top court went by NIA charge sheet.

"The Supreme Court went by NIA chargesheet that says ATS chargesheet is contradictory. The witnesses have gone back on what they were saying, by saying that they were forced to make statement. Also the RDX, for which the ATS felt was possibly planted," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court earlier order and granted bail to Purohit.

A bench of Justices R.K. Agrawal and A.M. Sapre passed the order on the plea.

Earlier on August 17, the apex court reserved its order on the bail plea of Lieutenant Colonel Purohit.

Senior lawyer, Harish Salve, appearing for Lieutenant Colonel Purohit told the court that he did not want to be discharged from the case at present, but for the interest of justice, wanted an interim bail.

Salve told the apex court that Lieutenant Colonel Purohit was allegedly caught in the political crossfire and was falsely implicated in the case.

Opposing Lieutenant Colonel Purohit's bail plea, the National Investigative Agency (NIA) argued that the Bombay High court order should be upheld by the apex court.

Lieutenant Colonel Purohit's bail plea was earlier rejected by the Bombay High Court saying the charges against him were of a grave nature, after which he moved to the top court.

Lieutenant Colonel Purohit, a former military intelligence officer, is one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, along with Sadhvi Pragya and others.

The 2008 Malegaon serial blasts claimed four lives and left nearly 79 injured.

-ANI