Malegaon blast case: Pragya Thakur escapes warrant again for ‘treatment’

A special NIA court in Mumbai has kept in abeyance the bailable warrant issued against former BJP Member of Parliament Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, as she is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh.

The latest warrant against Thakur was issued on 13 November. It was returnable on 2 December, which means the former Lok Sabha MP from Bhopal had to be present before the court for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases on the said date in order to get the warrant cancelled.

However, she did not appear before the court on Monday (December 2).

The prosecution filed a report on the bailable warrant issued against the 54-year-old accused, a native of Madhya Pradesh. The court, after the perusal of the report, noted "bailable warrant is returned unserved" as Thakur was not found at her residential address.

Upon enquiry, NIA officers, who had gone to serve the warrant, came to know that she is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, the court noted.

"Hence, for the time being, (the bailable warrant may) be kept in abeyance till [any] further order," said the court.

In the past, Thakur, who is out on bail in the case, has sought exemption from court appearances on multiple occasions citing ailments.

The NIA court is currently at the fag end of the trial in the 16-year-old blast case and recording the final statements of the accused, whose count stands at seven.

Six people were killed and more than 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra about 200 km from Mumbai, on 29 September 2008.

Thakur, Army officer Lt Col Prasad Purohit and five others are on trial for their alleged involvement in the blast conspiracy under the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The case was probed by Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before being transferred to the NIA in 2011.