Samjhauta Express case: NIA not to challenge Aseemanand's bail

The NIA decided not to challenge in Supreme Court the conditional bail granted to Aseemanand, accused in the Samjhauta Express blast case, as it did not find any grounds for the same.

The National Investigation Agency, NIA, has decided not to challenge in Supreme Court the conditional bail granted to Aseemanand, accused in the Samjhauta Express blast case, as it did not find any grounds for the same.

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Minister of state for home, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, on Tuesday told Lok Sabha that the Punjab and Haryana high court had granted conditional bail to Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Aseemanand on August 28, 2014, in the case.

However, the certified copy of the said order was issued by the court only on May 1, 2015. "The NIA examined the feasibility of filing a Special Leave Petition and decided that there were no grounds to challenge the order in Supreme Court," he said in his reply to a written question.

Aseemanand, however, continues to remain in jail since he did not comply with the conditions of bail specified in the August 28, 2014, order.

Blasts in two coaches of the Samjhauta Express on February 18, 2007, had claimed the lives of 68 people.

Chaudhary also told Lok Sabha that the government did not find it fit to challenge the March 21, 2014, order granting bail to the two accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case of May, 2007 -- Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma -- on grounds of parity since on June 3, 2012, and June 27, 2013, respectively, bail was granted to Bharat Mohan Lal alias Bharat Bhai and Tejaram Parmar which was not challenged by the prosecution.

However, both the accused continue to be in jail as they are also accused in other cases wherein they have been denied bail, he said.