A Mumbai court on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pragya Singh Thakur for failing to attend proceedings in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, PTI reported.
Special judge AK Lahoti noted that final arguments in the matter were going on and that the presence of the persons accused in the case was necessary. He issued a bailable warrant of Rs 10,000 against Thakur.
Six persons were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a two-wheeler went off near a mosque in north Maharashtra’s Malegaon on September 29, 2008. Hindutva outfit Abhinav Bharat is suspected of carrying out the attack.
On Tuesday, Thakur’s counsel sought that the BJP leader be exempted from appearing in court, citing health reasons. However, the judge said that Thakur, who is accused number one in the case, had not attended the proceedings since June 4.
He said that her previous applications for exemption on the grounds of illness and hospitalisation had also been considered from time to time.
“Today, the application was filed, along with a xerox copy of the medical certificate, showing she is undergoing ayurvedic treatment,” Lahoti said, according to PTI. “But the original certificate is not annexed.” Subsequently, the court rejected her petition for exemption.
Lahoti also issued a warrant that was returnable by November 13. This means that the BJP leader will have to appear before the court by the given date and get the warrant cancelled.
Besides Thakur, six other persons are facing trial in the case – Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi.
They have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code, including murder.
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