Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the member of Parliament from BJP has withdrawn her plea filed in the Bombay High Court for seeking discharge from the 2008 Malegaon Blasts case.
The appeal which was filed through Advocate Prashant Maggu in the year 2018 had challenged Special Court order under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act rejecting discharge application of Pragya Thakur
Pragya Thakur had sought for discharge claiming that the prosecution had failed to obtain proper sanction, as she was the sitting MP
A Division Bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice PD Naik, on November 28, while hearing the pleas filed by co-accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit, had asked as to why the discharge plea should be heard when more than 200 witnesses had already been examined.
In view of these statements, Thakur’s lawyers had sought for time to take instructions.
The lawyers has finally asked to withdraw the sought and the Bench granted.
Not only Pragya Thakur, but one another accused Sameer Kulkarni has also withdrawn his discharge application.
On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 were injured when an explosive device strapped onto a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town in north Maharashtra.
According to Maharashtra Police, the motorbike used in the blast was registered in Thakur’s name and led to her arrest in 2008. The Bombay High Court granted her bail in 2017. Thakur is being tried under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other relevant laws along with other accused persons.
The counsel for Thakur submitted that although the court had not summoned the MP, she appeared on her own as she was in Mumbai for her medical treatment. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur had last appeared before the NIA court in the above case in January this year. A total of eight witnesses have turned hostile in the case so far.
Along with Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, Ajay Rahirkar, retired major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dviwedi, Chaturvedi and Kulkarni are also accused in the 2008 blast. All the accused have been charged with several sections under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA Act), Explosives Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).