Colonel Shrikant Purohit, Acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon Blast Case, Promoted As Brigadier
Army elevates officer cleared in Malegaon blast case, extends service
New Delhi: The Indian Army has promoted Colonel Shrikant Purohit, who was acquitted in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, to the rank of Brigadier. He was due to retire on March 31, and the Armed Forces Tribunal had stayed the retirement till the Army took a decision on his complaint seeking his due promotion.
With this promotion, Col Purohit gets an extension of at least two years in service as Brigadiers retire at the age of 56, against 54 for Colonels.
Col Purohit had approached the tribunal claiming that his career progression had been adversely affected due to the prolonged trial in the Malegaon blast case, in which he was an accused. He argued that the delay in the judicial process had denied him a fair opportunity for promotion within the Army hierarchy.
Col Purohit was acquitted by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court last year. The Malegaon blast case of September 29, 2008, had claimed six lives. Even though he was granted bail in 2017 by the Supreme Court and rejoined service, he remained under suspension until July 2020.
The other six who were acquitted alongside Col Purohit included former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni.
