A sessions court on Thursday dismissed an application filed by the 13 accused in the July 11 serial train blasts case seeking the transfer of trial from the special MCOCA court following their alleged lack of faith.
Principal sessions judge A P Bhangale while dismissing the application said that it was not in the jurisdiction of his court to decide whether to transfer the case or not. The judge directed the accused that the appropriate court would be the Bombay High court, special public prosecutor Raja Thakrey told PTI.
The 13 accused had sought the transfer of the trial from the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court presided by judge Mrudula Bhatkar alleging that the judge was biased towards the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the police and was not considering their complaints.
Judge Bhangale had recorded the arguments of all the accused as well as the prosecution's arguments while considering the application.
Earlier, the defense lawyers for all the accused had withdrawn from the case.
Thirteen persons have been accused of having carried out the seven simultaneous blasts in the city's suburban train network on July 11 last killing 187 and injuring over 800.
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