2008 Malegaon Blast: SC declines Sameer Kulkarni’s plea challenging validity of sanction

New Delhi [India], August 6 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined the plea filed by Sameer Kulkarni, one of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, challenging the sanction taken to prosecute him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was not proper.

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Aravind Kumar said it was not inclined to interfere with the Bombay High Court order which dismissed his plea.

The bench said, “We find no reason to interfere with the impugned judgement.”

The top court on April 30 had stayed proceedings against Kulkarni before the special court.

Kulkarni had filed petition in the apex court challenging the sanction under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act stating that the sanction taken to prosecute him was not proper.

The plea challenged the competence of the trial court to conduct the trial and also without a valid sanction under Section 45(2) of the UAPA.

It was filed against the June 28, 2023 order of the Bombay High Court which had upheld the April 24, 2023 order of the NIA court rejecting Kulkarni’s plea regarding the competence of the court to hold the trial without valid sanction.

“No trial can commence and entire exercise is being done in futility and such proceeding is null and void and without jurisdiction and the petitioner is being harassed and his rights under section 21 is being infringed,” the plea stated.

Kulkarni, along with six others, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, is facing trial for the blast at Malegaon on September 29, 2008.