Lt Col Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya charged in 2008 Malegaon blast case: A timeline

Mumbai, Oct 30: Ten years after a blast in Malegaon near Nashik in Maharashtra killed six and injured 101 people, a special court on Tuesday framed charges against the seven accused including Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The seven will face trial under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other sections, including murder, criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier, in the day, Purohit through his advocate sought deferring of the framing of charges by stating that he wants to appeal against the trial court's order dismissing his claim that UAPA could not be applied in the case. The court, however, said that since there was no stay on proceedings, the court would go on to frame charges against the accused.

All seven accused including Purohit, Thakur, Major (retired)Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court will hear the case next on November 2.

Following is a brief timeline on the Malegaon case:

September 29, 2008: Seven people are killed and 101 injured after a bomb planted on a motorcycle goes off at Malegaon in Maharashtra's Nashik district.

October 2008: Police arrest Sadhvi Pragya and 3 others.

November, 2008: Anti-Terror Squad arrest Colonel Purohit, a serving army officer.

January 2009: Anti Terror Squad files final chargesheet against 11 accused. .

July, 2009: A special court says that Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges are not applicable and the accused be tried by a lower court in Nashik.

July, 2010: Bombay high court overturns the earlier court order and upholds the charges under provisions of MCOCA.

August 2010: Colonel Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya challenge Bombay High Court order for upholding the MCOCA charges.

April 2015: Supreme Court sends case back to lower court to consider the applicability MCOCA Act. Case transferred to National Investigative Agency (NIA).

February 2016: NIA tells court that the Attorney-General's opinion is being sought on whether the accused can be tried under MCOCA Act.

April 2016: MCOCA court gives clean chit to the 9 accused, saying there is no evidence against them.

April 2017: Sadhvi Pragya granted bail. NIA recommends charges against her are dropped.

August 2017: Colonel Purohit released from jail on conditional bail.

December 2017: A special court of the NIA discharges Sadhvi Pragya and Colonel Srikant Purohit.

Oct, 2018: The Bombay High Court on Monday had also refused to stay the framing of charges by the trial court against Purohit and other accused persons.

Oct 30, 2018: A special court on Tuesday framed charges against the seven accused including Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.