Pragya Thakur told to appear in court once a week

Mumbai: In a setback for Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur, the special NIA court Monday directed the BJP leader to appear before it at least once a week during the hearing of the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

The special NIA court Monday rejected her plea for exemption from personal appearance for several days in a row and reminded the lawyers of all accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, that the accused should remain present before the court once a week and hence, all should attend the court by June 7.

When Ms Thakur’s lawyer moved the exemption application before special Judge Vinod Padalkar, the Judge observed that the grounds shown in the exemption application, which were “to complete the process of elections, enrollment and other factors, could not be accepted at all and that time and again, Ms Thakur will have to remain present before the court.”

The judge also said that as per Supreme Court directions, courts were required to decide matters of political leaders expeditiously.

Since Thakur is now a MP and this case had already been expedited, the court asked her and other accused to remain present in court once a week. Failure to follow the order would invite legal action, the Judge warned.

The judge noted that the high court, while granting bail to Thakur, had specifically directed her to remain present at the time of trial.

“Considering the grounds, the presence of the accused on each and every date is relaxed and they were directed to remain present once a week.”

 According to the judge, this direction was issued so that the accused should know the evidence recorded by the court, as the accused had to answer the evidence produced by prosecution witnesses while recording statements under section 313 of the CrPC.