Mumbai: Given that the prosecution witnesses in 2008 Malegaon blast case Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Saturday said the lawyers of the state ATS will participate in the ongoing trial before a special NIA court.
The case was initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over.
“Recently some witnesses have turned hostile… From now on, our lawyers will be present in the court during the trial,” Walse-Patil told reporters.
He said that the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) will communicate with the central agency on this. Earlier this week, state Congress working president and former minister of state for home Naseem Khan had met Additional Director General of Police Vineet Agarwal, who heads the ATS, on the issue.
In a memorandum to the ATS, Khan demanded that the lawyers of the ATS be present in the NIA court here during the trial. The accused in the case also include BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur who is out on bail.
So far, 16 of the 223 witnesses who have turned hostile, accusing the ATS of torturing and forcing them to give false statements, Khan had said in the memorandum, sought to defend the state and the ATS’s image. Lawyers must be present in court.
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device attached to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon in north Maharashtra.
The case was initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over.
“Recently some witnesses have turned hostile… From now on, our lawyers will be present in the court during the trial,” Walse-Patil told reporters.
He said that the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) will communicate with the central agency on this. Earlier this week, state Congress working president and former minister of state for home Naseem Khan had met Additional Director General of Police Vineet Agarwal, who heads the ATS, on the issue.
In a memorandum to the ATS, Khan demanded that the lawyers of the ATS be present in the NIA court here during the trial. The accused in the case also include BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur who is out on bail.
So far, 16 of the 223 witnesses who have turned hostile, accusing the ATS of torturing and forcing them to give false statements, Khan had said in the memorandum, sought to defend the state and the ATS’s image. Lawyers must be present in court.
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device attached to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon in north Maharashtra.
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