(This story originally appeared in on Aug 24, 2017)

Having spent around nine years in prison, Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit on Wednesday walked out of Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai after being granted bail by the Supreme Court in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.After coming out of prison around 10.45 am, a team of military police and the army ’s Quick Response Team escorted Purohit to a military station in Colaba.A bench of Justices RK Agrawal and AM Sapre had said they were setting aside an April 25 Bombay High Court order denying Purohit bail.Six people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008, in Malegaon, in Nashik district.On Tuesday, Purohit was produced before the special NIA court hearing the accused on framing of charges in the case. In the afternoon, Purohit’s lawyers in Delhi approached the Supreme Court, seeking to modify bail conditions. They then initiated the procedure for getting a release order, which the special NIA court issued in the evening.Police on Tuesday escorted Purohit back to Taloja jail a little after 6.30 pm. An army vehicle reached the jail to convey Purohit, but left as formalities for his release were pending. On Tuesday, all formalities were complete, and Purohit was released.“I want to wear my uniform. It is the outermost layer of my skin; I am wedded to it. I am very happy to get back into the service of the best organisation in the country, if not the world, the Indian Army ,” Purohit said on Tuesday, outside the sessions court where had been brought for a hearing on framing of charges.“I have two families — the army and my family which includes my wife, my two sons, sister and mother. I cannot wait to return to them,” he said. The Army didn’t “let me down”.While granting bail to Purohit two days ago, the apex court said there were “material contradictions” in the chargesheets filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Mumbai, and the National Investigation Agency, which are required to be tested at the time of trial, and it cannot pick or choose one version over the other.