The Supreme Court today sought response from Centre and National Investigating Agency (NIA) on a plea challenging removal of Special Public Prosecutor in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case and alleging that Government was exerting pressure on her to go soft on the accused.<br/><br/>A bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre asked Centre and NIA to file their responses within one week. The bench has also issued notice to Maharashtra government in the case.<br/><br/>The PIL, filed by social activist Harsh Mander, has alleged that NIA officials had pressured erstwhile Special Public Prosecutor in case, Rohini Salian, presumably under instructions from what it said their political masters.<br/><br/>Salian, who was SPP in the case, had alleged that an NIA officer had told her to go soft on the accused. She also claimed the same officer had told her that she would be replaced. Salian is no longer on NIA's panel of lawyers.<br/><br/>The blast on September 29, 2008 had left four dead and nearly 80 injured. The 4,000-page charge sheet has named Lt Col S P Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Swami Dayanand Pandey as the key conspirators.