The Bombay High Court granted bail today to 21-year-old engineering student Shamil Nachan, whose father Saquib Nachan was an accused in the 2003 Mulund bomb blast case, observing that prima facie, no case was made out.
Shamil was arrested for allegedly opening fire at a VHP member Manoj Raicha in 2012.
According to the prosecution, Shamil and other accused conspired to murder Raicha, as he regularly prevented them from slaughtering cows during Ramzan.
Allegedly, the accused had fired at Raicha on July 23 last year, but it only managed to injure him.
Shamil's advocate Rebecca Gonsalves had sought bail, stating that there is no evidence or witness statement to show that Shamil was part of the alleged conspiracy.
"The police has invoked stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) as well as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in this case. This is not a terrorist act," Gonsalves had argued.
Accepting her arguments, Justice A M Thipsay granted Shamil bail, on a cash bond of Rs 15,000.
Earlier, during the hearing of the bail plea, the court had observed that the only reason Shamil was dragged into the case which attracted sections of the MCOCA and UAPA, was because of his father Saquib Nachan's alleged involvement in terror cases.
Saquib Nachan had been arrested earlier for his alleged role in the 2003 Mulund bomb blast case and his alleged links with the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
