The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday granted exemption from physical appearance to BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, who has been named in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, till further orders.
Ms. Thakur had appeared before the special court on January 4 and had filed an application seeking permanent exemption on medical grounds. Advocate Prashant Maggu, who represents her, told The Hindu, “The application was filed on medical grounds and said that is not possible for her to keep travelling from Bhopal to Mumbai. The COVID-19 pandemic is also a contributing factor.”
A special court had given Ms. Thakur a “last chance” to appear on January 4 after she failed to appear on two occasions.
On October 30, the court had charged Ms. Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Ajay Rahilkar with murder, abetment and conspiracy under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The special court had said, “Abhinav Bharat organisation (alleged to be behind the blast) was formed with the common object to spread terrorism. All the accused conspired from January 2008 to plant a bomb with RDX on a motorcycle that belonged to Ms. Thakur.”
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