Malegaon blast case: MP Pragya Thakur fails to appear in court

A particular NIA court right here on Thursday mentioned the trial in 2008 Malegaon blast case will resume from Friday and directed all of the seven accused to stay current in the court on December 19.

Special NIA court decide P.R. Sitre had earlier directed all of the accused in the case, together with BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, to stay current in the court on Thursday.

Also learn: I don’t know, Pragya Singh tells NIA court on Malegaon blasts

However, Pragya Thakur, Ramesh Upadhayay, Sudhakar Diwedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi didn’t appear in the court.

Ms. Thakur had appeared earlier than the court in June final yr after it ordered the seven accused to stay current as soon as per week. She later sought exemption from look on varied events since then.

Lt. Col Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni and Ajay Rahikar had been current earlier than the decide on Thursday.

The attorneys of the opposite 4 accused informed the court that their shoppers had been absent due to the COVID-19 scenario.

The court then directed all of the accused to be current earlier than it on December 19.

It mentioned the trial in the case, which is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), will resume from Friday.

Six individuals had been killed and over 100 others injured when an explosive machine strapped on a motorbike went off close to a mosque in Malegaon, a city about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.

Also learn: Malegaon case: Pragya seems earlier than a particular court in Mumbai

The court had framed terror costs in opposition to Mr. Purohit, Ms. Thakur and 5 different accused in October 2018.

The trial in the case couldn’t proceed since March this yr as regular functioning of the courts was hampered due to the COVID-19 scenario.

Responding to a plea in search of day-to-day trial in the case, the probe company had earlier informed the court that it was making all efforts to expedite the case.

The trial in the case was additionally delayed due to retirement of the earlier decide V.S. Padalkar, it had mentioned.

As per the NIA, round 140 witnesses out of 400 have been already been examined in the case.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Thursday clarified that it has not stayed the trial in the Malegaon blast case, and mentioned the trial should go on.

Aslo learn: Malegaon Blasts: SC rejects plea in opposition to Bombay HC order holding appeals of accused maintainable

A division bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik was listening to a plea filed by Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, in search of that costs in opposition to him be quashed.

Lt. Col. Purohit’s lawyer sought adjournment on the bottom that senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi was not accessible on Thursday.

The court then adjourned the matter until December 14. The bench sought to know at what stage is the trial earlier than the particular NIA court.

NIA’s advocate Sandesh Patil informed the HC that the trial will begin on a day-to-day foundation from Thursday and the accused individuals and a few witnesses have been summoned.

“We have never said that the trial is stayed. The trial must continue,” Justice Shinde mentioned. The court famous that there are 400 prosecution witnesses, of whom solely 140 have been examined to this point.

Lt. Col Purohit, in his plea filed in September this yr, sought that costs in opposition to him be quashed, for the reason that NIA had failed to get a previous sanction below Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 197.

Section 197 of the CrPC lays down the process for prosecution of public servants and mandates {that a} prior sanction be sought from the federal government.

He mentioned in the absence of prior sanction, the trial court couldn’t have taken cognisance of the fees.

As per the plea, he was working for the Indian Army’s navy intelligence unit and had attended the alleged conspiracy conferences earlier than the blast as a part of “discharging his duties“.

The NIA had opposed the plea, saying Purohit attended the conferences in his private capability and never as a part of discharging his duties.

Lt. Col Purohit, who was arrested in 2009, was reinstated in the Army in 2017 after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court.

The accused in the case have been charged below Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

They have additionally been charged below Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120 (b) (felony conspiracy), 302 (homicide), 307 (try to homicide), 324 (voluntarily inflicting damage) and 153 (a) (selling enmity between two non secular teams), and related provisions of the Explosive Substances Act.