New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a petition filed by Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, accused in Malegaon blast case, who is on bail now, seeking a direction for a SIT probe into his “illegal detention” and “custodial torture.” Six people were killed and nearly 100 injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle went off at Malegaon, a town in Nashik district of Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
A three-judge Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Navin Sinha and K.M. Joseph dismissed the petition after hearing senior counsel Harish Salve, for the petitioner. The Bench, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the petition, however made it clear that Purohit had the liberty to approach the trial court and raise all contentions.
When Mr. Salve said the National Investigation Agency was responsible for arresting the petitioner and must look into the issues raised by Purohit, the bench said that entertaining such a petition at “this juncture might influence the trial.”
