Mumbai: NIA court asks BJP MP Pragya Thakur to appear for statements in 2008 Malegaon blast case or face action

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A special NIA court has asked the 2008 Malegaon blast case accused BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur to appear before it from Tuesday onwards for recording of statements. The NIA court warned Thakur of "necessary action" if she fails to do so, newswire PTI reported.

Special Judge A K Lahoti passed this direction on February 22 while granting Thakur's plea for exemption for the day on medical grounds, the PTI report said. Thakur and six others are facing trial in the case under provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The National Investigation Agency court is currently recording statements of the accused under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

In his order, Special Judge Lahoti observed that Thakur and some other accused are not attending the court regularly on the fixed date. "Time to time, their exemption applications for the reasons put forth by them are also considered by the court. It is observed that some accused are residents of other states and while moving the application they used to mention that they face difficulty in getting tickets at eleventh hour. So, they could not attend the court," the court said.

However, to overcome the aforesaid difficulty, dates are given in advance to all the accused and, hence, exemption on the same ground will not be considered, the court said.

The court considered Thakur's plea, filed on the ground that she was under medication, for the day. It, however, directed her to remain present from February 27 onwards "without fail, else, necessary steps will be taken".

Further, the court said all the accused must remain present on the fixed dates given to them till completion of recording of statement. "Needless to say they (accused) could stay in Mumbai and if there is ill health, they could get medication in Mumbai also," the court noted.

Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. The case was initially probed by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad before it was transferred to the NIA in 2011. (With inputs from PTI)