Malegaon blast case accused fined for ‘wasting court’s time’

nMUMBAI: A special court on Wednesday imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case for “wasting court’s time by filing unnecessary application”.

The accused, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, had filed an application seeking that the case diary be deposited in the court under section 172 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC).

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had, however, objected to the application saying that section 172 (3) clearly indicates that the no such diary can be filed, special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal said. “The accused has no access to these documents. Only judge can see it and whenever the court has asked us, we have produced it,” he added.

Similar application had been filed by the accused in 2016, which was rejected by then special judge presiding over the case.

Taking all these things into consideration, special NIA court judge VS Padalkar rejected Chatrurvedi’s application, the special public prosecutor said.

The court observed that the accused was delaying the trial and wasting its time by filing such applications and directed him to pay the fine within three days.

The Bombay HC on Tuesday observed that there has not been any “effective progress” in the trial of the blast case. The bench asked the NIA to explain why the trial was being prolonged.

Six people were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device went off near a mosque in the north Maharashtra town of Malegaon on September 29, 2008.