Mumbai, Aug 24 - Almost a month after a special court dropped charges under a stringent anti-terrorist act against 11 accused in the Malegaon bomb blast case, the state government Monday decided to appeal against the ruling in the Bombay High Court.

On July 31, Special Judge Y.D. Shinde had dropped the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the 11 accused, dealing a major blow to the state investigating authorities.

A division bench comprising Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice A.R. Joshi, while declining the state's plea to stay the lower court order, slated the next hearing Sep 8, said G. Sovani, lawyer for one of the prime accused, Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur.

'The court further directed the state to serve copies of its appeal to all the accused. In the meantime, we have also filed a bail application for Sadhvi, which would be taken up later by the court,' he said.

Until the matter comes up before the Bombay High Court, the case will not start in the Nashik Court, according to Sovani.