Malegaon bomb blast case: No opposition to Sadhvi bail

In a relief to the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the prosecution on Monday informed the special NIA court that since it is relying on the chargesheet filed by National Investigation Agency, it is not opposing the bail application filed by Ms Thakur.

Special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal on Monday informed the special judge V.V. Patil that the prosecution has no objection to Sadhvi getting bail and it is upto the court to decide upon her bail application.

The NIA had recently filed a chargesheet in the Malegaon 2008 blast case in which it has said that while investigating the case they did not find sufficient material against Sadhvi and a few other accused to prosecute them.

Following this development Sadhvi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Pravin Takkalki filed bail applications and the special judge had asked the NIA to file reply on their applications. The agency was asked to file reply on Sadhvi’s bail by June 6 and on others’ applications by June 10.

In the meantime, one of the victims Nisar Ahmed Sayyed Bilal through Jamiat-e-Ulema Maharashtra has filed an intervention application opposing the bail plea. In his application, Mr Nisar has said that as per the chargesheet filed by the ATS, Sadhvi, Chaturvedi and Takkalki are amongst the conspirators and had actively participated in the blasts and hence they should not be granted bail.

The judge has posted this intervention application for hearing on June 8 and few other interventions opposing the bail pleas are also expected to be filed before next date of hearing.

Sadhvi’s lawyer while pressing for her bail relied upon the chargesheet recently filed by NIA. Her illness and bad health was another ground for seeking bail. The lawyer pointed out that a few of the witnesses, whose statements were used to show her involvement in the blast, have not only retracted their confessional statements but also complained to magistrate of Human Rights Commission about being tortured at the hands of the ATS for giving false statements.

Her bail plea also stated that in order to deny the bail to Sadhvi, the prosecution must show that the case is “prima-facie true”. “From the facts on records and more particularly on consideration of chargesheet of NIA, there is no case much less, prima facie case is made out and hence the applicant deserves to be released on bail,” read Sadhvi’s bail application.