The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit (retired), the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast which killed seven people.

A bench of Justice RK Agrawal and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre granted conditional bail to Purohit asking him not to tamper with evidence.

"We set aside order of Bombay High court,” the apex court said.  

The court said that the bail has been granted subject to certain conditions, which will be specified later.

Purohit had told the apex court that till date, charges have not been framed against him while those under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) have already been dropped.

He told the court that he has been in jail for the past nine years and was entitled to bail.

The Bombay High Court had earlier rejected Lt Colonel Purohit's bail plea, saying the charges against him were of a grave nature, after which he moved the top court.

Purohit has challenged the April 25 Bombay High Court order which granted bail to another accused, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, but rejected his plea.

At least seven persons were killed in the explosion in Malegaon in Nashik district on September 29, 2008.

The investigating agencies had earlier allegedly attributed the blast to right-wing group Abhinav Bharat.

The 4,000-page charge sheet had named Thakur, Purohit and co-accused, Swami Dayanand Pandey as the key conspirators.

In 2016, Thakur was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Sadhvi Pragya has been granted relief in the case by the Bombay High Court.

The Malegaon blast took place on September 29, 2008 in Nashik district of north Maharashtra and killed seven people. 

(With IANS inputs)