Indian Army Clears Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit For Brigadier Rank After AFT Relief

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Indian Army has cleared Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit for promotion to the rank of Brigadier, sources told ANI on Friday. The move follows a decision by the Armed Forces Tribunal to stay his retirement, which had been scheduled for March 31, 2026.

The tribunal took this step while hearing his petition seeking promotion and related service benefits. It also issued a notice to the Ministry of Defence and directed that his retirement be put on hold until a final decision is made on his statutory complaint.

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Purohit had approached the tribunal claiming that his career progression had been adversely affected due to the prolonged trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, in which he was an accused before being acquitted. He argued that the delay in the judicial process denied him a fair opportunity for promotion within the Army hierarchy, ANI reported.

The Mumbai NIA court on July 31 had acquitted Purohit and six others in the Malegaon blast case, observing that the prosecution failed to establish the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The verdict came after years of investigation and trial proceedings.

Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against seven.

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The other six who were acquitted alongside Purohit included former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni. The Malegaon blast took place on September 29, 2008, when a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in the Bhikku Chowk area of Malegaon, resulting in six deaths and injuring 95 people, ANI reported.

In 2011, the investigation was transferred from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad to the National Investigation Agency. Over the next several years, authorities conducted extensive probes and examined hundreds of witnesses, and after nearly 17 years, all the accused were acquitted of charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act, and other related offences.

(With inputs from ANI)

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