Lt Colonel Purohit Tells Court He's Army's "Unsung Hero", Seeks Speedy Hearing

Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit has sought that all charges against him in the case be dropped.

Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, told the Bombay High Court Monday that he was "an unsung" hero of the Army, who had suffered much during nearly nine years he spent in prison as an undertrial before being released on bail. Senior advocate Shrikant Shivade, who appeared for Mr Purohit, urged a bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar to direct the special NIA court in the city to decide his grievance on the issue of prior sanction for prosecution at the earliest. Through a bunch of pleas filed in the High Court, Mr Purohit has sought that all charges against him in the case be dropped. He has also maintained that the alleged acts of conspiracy committed by him were in discharge of his duties as an officer of the Army, and therefore, the probe agency NIA should have obtained prior sanction of the central government to prosecute him.