Malegaon blast case: Lt. Col. Purohit seeks in-camera trail

Mumbai, Jan 11 (UNI) The 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case accused Lt. Colonel Prasad Purohit on Tuesday sought in-camera trial in the case hearing.
He moved an application before a special court seeking in-camera trial in the ongoing trial and also urged the court to bar media from publishing the report about the trail.
Accused Purohit, in his plea before the court, claimed that the media was conducting debates and discussions on the trial proceedings which was prohibited by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in 2019.
It may be recalled that in 2019, the NIA had filed a similar application before the court seeking for the trial to be held in-camera and for the media to be prohibited from reporting. The application was opposed at that time by journalists.
In October 2019, the special court rejected the NIA’s application but imposed a few restrictions on media while reporting the trial.
The court had said that the media should not reveal the identity of witnesses in the case and not conduct a debate, interview or discussion of any kind in the case.
In his application Purohit today said that the 2019 order passed by the court was being violated by the media and hence the permission granted to report the trial be withdrawn completely.
“It is requested that in the interest of justice and for a fair trial to be conducted, the case should remain confined to the courtroom and should not be allowed to be hijacked by opinion-makers and anti-national opportunists,” the application said.
After perusing the Purohit’s application, the court directed the NIA to file a reply to Purohit’s application.
The court said it would hear the application latter.
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 others injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon.
Apart from Purohit, BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, and others are facing the trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the charges of committing terrorist activities and criminal conspiracy.