The Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday recommended advocate Neela Kedar Gokhale who represents Hindu militant and alleged master-brain of Malegaon blasts Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, as a judge of the Bombay High Court.
Gokhale was recommended to be elevated as a judge of the Bombay High Court by the collegium, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, in a meeting on 10 January.
She was among eight persons who were recommended for appointment as High Court judges.
Last week, the Bombay High Court had rejected Purohit’s plea seeking discharge from the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and PD Naik rejected Purohit’s plea, as they noted “causing bomb blast is not an official duty.”
Purohit had been arrested in 2008 and charged under UAPA along with BJP MP Pragya Thakur and five others. He was granted bail by the top court in 2017.
Six people were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon in north Maharashtra on September 29, 2008.
Purohit had founded a group called Abhinav Bharat which planned and executed the blast in Malegaon. The prosecution alleged that Purohit founded the organisation with the objective of turning India into a Hindu country, despite being an Army officer.
