The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea filed by Sameer Kulkarni, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, challenging the sanction for prosecution granted by the Maharashtra government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar stated it was not inclined to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s order, which had dismissed Kulkarni’s plea. “We find no reason to interfere with the impugned judgement,” the bench remarked.
Appearing for Kulkarni, senior advocate Shyam Divan argued that the prosecution had not obtained sanction under Section 45(2) of UAPA and, therefore, the charges under UAPA could not be sustained. Divan contended that once the matter is transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), there should be a sanction from the central government.
The apex court had stayed proceedings against Kulkarni before the special court on April 30. Kulkarni had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s order dated June 28, 2023, which upheld the trial in the special NIA court in Mumbai. He argued that the trial lacked valid sanction granted by the competent authority in accordance with Section 45 of the UAPA.
The 2008 Malegaon blast, which occurred on September 29 in Nashik district, Maharashtra, resulted in the deaths of six people and injuries to nearly 100 others. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, along with nine others, were arrested in connection with the blast conspiracy. The NIA, which took over the investigation from the Maharashtra ATS, later gave a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya.
