Sep 18 (Mumbai Mirror): The special MCOCA court hearing the 2008 Malegaon blasts case has ordered that the bail proceedings be held in-camera. While arguing for it, lawyer Shrikant Shivde said this will ensure that arguments for bail will not be "misrepresented, misquoted or quoted out of context".

The court is hearing a clutch of bail applications by accused Col. Prasad Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, Rakesh Dhawde and Sudhakar Dwivedi, among others. The Supreme Court had said in April that the accused had been in jail for several years and therefore the case should be decided expeditiously.

The National Investigation Agency did not oppose the application after which the court passed an order that all bail applications in the case will be heard in-camera. This means that details of the proceeding in court cannot be attended or reported by the media without the court's permission.

Since neither party was willing to disclose details of the application, sources on the condition of anonymity said that the application was made because the defense wanted to read some 'sensitive transcripts' . This application comes as a surprise as it was not made on an earlier date or at the time of filing of the bail application. Contents of both the bail application as well as the reply have already been reported by the media.

On September 29, 2008, the Malegaon blasts claimed four lives while another blast at the same time in Modasa in Gujarat killed one. Investigations in the case pointed to involvement of Hindu fanatics based in Indore. Twelve people were arrested, including Pragya Singh Thakur and Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, for the blasts.

The 2008 Malegaon blasts case turned controversial after NIA's former special public prosecutor, Rohini Salian, alleged she was asked to go soft in the case. NIA countered the allegation saying that the trial in the case was yet to start and the special public prosecutor's work begins only later.