SC dismisses PIL challenging probe by ATS

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the probe by ATS of Maharashtra Police into the Malegaon blast case and the arrest of Hindu religious leaders, including Sadhvi Pragya.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the probe by Anti-Terrorist Sqaud (ATS) of Maharashtra Police into the Malegaon blast case and the arrest of Hindu religious leaders, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.

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"We cannot entertain such a petition," a Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan said.

The PIL filed by advocate Kaushal Kishor Chaudhary questioned the entire probe in which a serving Army officer Lt Col Srikant Purohit and Retd Major Ramesh Upadhaya have been arrested.

The advocate, who had sought a judicial inquiry into the entire incident, alleged that the apex court guidelines were not followed while arresting the accused, including Dayanand Pandey and Sameer Kulkarni and Sham Lal Sahu.

In the petition, the advocate alleged that the entire sequence of event was a result of conspiracy between ATS and Maharashtra government with a sole aim of vote bank politics by terming the Malegaon blasts as a product of 'Hindu Terrorism'.

He alleged that the criminal law, constitutional mandate and the Supreme guidelines that parents or the relatives of persons, who are picked up by investigators, should be intimated was not followed by the ATS while detaining Sadhvi and other co-accused.

The decision to invoke the stringent law the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) has also been challenged in the petition which alleged that it was a "politically motivated" case lodged with the aim of garnering minority votes.