All the 11 accused, including a serving Indian Army officer, in the September 29, 2008 Malegaon bomb blast are to be charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the Bombay High Court said on July 19, setting aside a lower court ruling. The accused are: Sadhvi Pragnya Chandrapal Singh, Shyamlal Sahu, Shivnarain Singh, Sameer Kulkarni, retired Maj. Ramesh Upadhyaya, Ajay Rahirkar, Rakesh Dhawade, Jagdish Mhatre, Dayanand Pandey, Sudhakar O. Chaturvedi and Lt. Col. Prasad S. Purohit – a serving Indian Army officer, attached to the AEC Panchmarhi, accused in the blasts conspiracy and helped to procure RDX.
A division bench comprising Justice B.H. Marlapalle and Justice A.V. Mohta set aside an order of a lower court of July 31, 2009, dropping charges under MCOCA on the 11 accused, including Sadhvi Pragnya and other members of right-wing Hindu groups. The high court also upheld the contention by the Maharashtra government, which went in appeal against the MCOCA Special Court’s order, that MCOCA should be made applicable on the 11 accused in the terror case.