This Article is From Jun 04, 2019

Pragya Thakur Skips Court In Malegaon Blasts Case, To Appear By June 7

Pragya Thakur lawyers filed a fresh exemption application today which was granted by the court for a day. She has to now appear before the trial court before June 7.

Pragya Thakur Skips Court In Malegaon Blasts Case, To Appear By June 7

Pragya Thakur has to now appear before the special court before June 7.

Mumbai:

Newly elected Bhopal lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blasts case of 2008, today skipped court even after an exemption application was rejected earlier by the special court.

The BJP lawmaker's lawyers filed a fresh exemption application today which was granted by the court for a day. She has to now appear before the trial court before June 7.

Last month, the court ordered Pragya Thakur and the six other accused in 2008 Malegaon blast to be present before it at least once a week for the proceedings of the case.

The proceedings of the ongoing trial are being held on a daily basis but Pragya Thakur had sought exemption from June 3 to June 7, which was rejected by the court. She has to appear this week, barring Wednesday when the court will be closed for Eid.

Six people were killed and nearly 100 injured on September 29, 2008, when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon, a textile town in Maharashtra 270 kilometres from Mumbai.

Pragya Thakur was arrested the same year. The BJP accuses the Congress of slapping false charges on Pragya Thakur in the name of "saffron terror" over the Malegaon blasts.

In April 2017, she was granted bail by the Bombay High Court, on health grounds and the fact that the investigation was complete in the case.

In October last year, the court had framed charges in the case against all the seven accused for terror activities, criminal conspiracy and murder, among others.

Pragya Thakur made headlines after the BJP fielded her in Bhopal in the recently concluded elections. She beat Congress heavyweight Digvijaya Singh by over 3.6 lakh votes.

She remained in news for her various controversial comments before the polls. She was shredded by many, including her party members, for calling Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi's assassinator, a patriot.

"Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt' (patriot), is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a fitting reply in the election," she had said. She apologised later after much criticism from all quarters of the country.

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