Malegaon blast: Court to decide if MCOCA is applicable

The Bombay High Court will decide whether the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) is applicable in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

The Bombay High Court will decide whether the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) is applicable in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

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Special counsels for the government, Amit Desai and Rohini Salian, argued that the special judge was wrong in quashing MCOCA charges against the accused, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit. The ATS had arrested 11 persons for allegedly carrying out the blast at Malegaon on September 28, 2008.

Desai argued that proper approval and sanction were granted for invoking MCOCA in the case and the special judge had no jurisdiction to quash the same. The lower court quashed MCOCA saying though two chargesheets were filed against accused, Rakesh Dhawade, the courts had not taken cognisance against him. Desai argued that the trial court takes cognisance of a case and not of an individual accused.