Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh:
BJP lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur failed to appear before a court in Mumbai today – for the second time this week – in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Her lawyer Prashant Magoo told the court she was suffering from high blood pressure and was therefore unable to travel. The court granted exemption for the day but directed Pragya Thakur to appear tomorrow or “face consequences”.
The saffron-robed parliamentarian from Bhopal is one of the main accused in the case. Six people were killed and nearly 100 were injured after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded on September 29 in Maharashtra’s Malegaon.
“Today, the exemption is granted. But she will have to appear on Friday, else she will have to face consequences,” Special NIA Judge VS Padalkar said to Mr Magoo.
Pragya Thakur, 49, had skipped court on Tuesday despite the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court having earlier rejected her request seeking exemption from appearance between June 3 and June 7. She now must appear tomorrow in order to comply with court orders to be present before it at least once a week.
Earlier Pragya Thakur’s close aide Upma told news agency PTI that “she (Pragya Singh) is not well. She was hospitalised last night for medication. She is suffering from some stomach-related ailment and was administered injectable medicines.”
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“She was discharged from the hospital this morning and is taking part in a programme as pressed by workers, but she will return to the hospital immediately afterwards as she is not well,” Upma added.
Dismissing her first exemption petition, which was filed on Monday, Special NIA Judge VS Padalkar had said that her presence was “certainly necessary” at this stage of the case. Pragya Thakur had sought exemption in order to complete formalities relating to Parliament.
“Grounds shown in the exemption application like to complete process of elections, enrolment and other factors cannot be accepted at all as time and again, the accused person (Thakur) has undertaken to remain present before this court but fails to do so,” the court had said.
“However, now material witnesses are being called by the prosecution to adduce their evidence to prove their case against the accused persons. Hence, the presence of accused persons is certainly necessary,” the court added.
Pragya Thakur was arrested in 2008 and faces charges under multiple sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act.
An NIA court had dropped stringent charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act but the trial court retained charges against her under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Pragya Thakur is currently out on bail, on health grounds, and her candidature has been challenged in court by the father of one of the men who died in the blast.
However, in October last year, the NIA court had framed charges in the case against all the seven accused for terror activities, criminal conspiracy and murder, among others.
Pragya Thakur, known for making incendiary comments, was publicly censured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month after she called Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s killer, a “deshbhakt (patriot)”. The comments had spurred outrage and protests.
Pragya Thakur was fielded as the BJP candidate from Bhopal in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election. She beat veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh by over 3.6 lakh votes.
With input from PTI