Missing links may let Malegaon accused walk free
Under the law, only an officer of the rank of deputy inspector general of police can invoke the Act against an accused person.
It seems enough prudence was not applied when the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was slapped against Lt Col. Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case along with bomb blasts at Parbhani and Jalna.
Under the law, only an officer of the rank of deputy inspector general of police can invoke the Act against an accused person. Moreover, an officer not below the rank of additional director general is empowered to accord sanction in such a case.
While that procedure was followed, the officers concerned of the Maharashtra Police did not really check whether they can establish the nexus between Purohit and the Sadhvi with the accused person in the Parbhani and Jalna blast cases.
If these cases fall flat, then that will have a bearing on the Malegaon case as well.
The National Investigation Agency is now finding it difficult to deal with the situation. Though Purohit and the Sadhvi were booked in connection with bomb blasts at Parbhani and Jalna, the state ATS and subsequently the National Investigation Agency have not been able to establish their complicity in these cases.
This is precisely why the Supreme Court has directed the lower court to hear afresh the bail applications of Purohit and the Sadhvi on merit.
"The nexus should have been first established before invoking MCOCA against them," a senior Maharashtra Police officer said.
The officer added that now that the chargesheet has been filed in all the three cases - Malegaon, Parbhani and Jalna - there is no room for investigation, thus negating any possibility of establishing the nexus.