Malegaon: SC rejects plea against Bombay HC order holding appeals of accused maintainable

The Supreme Court Friday dismissed a plea challenging a Bombay High Court order that held that appeals of various accused including Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Pragya Singh Thakur against framing of charges in the 2008 Malegaon blast case were "maintainable".

The high court on March 5 had rejected the statutory plea of National Investigation Agency (NIA) that it cannot hear appeals of the accused under section 21 (1) the NIA Act as an order of framing of charges was an interlocutory or an interim order and not a final one.

Section 21 (1) of NIA Act reads: "Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, an appeal shall lie from any judgment, sentence or order, not being an interlocutory order, of a special court to the high court both on facts and on law."