BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused within the Malegaon blast case of 2008, appeared earlier than a particular NIA court docket right here on Monday.
Thakur remained within the field reserved for accused individuals in the back of the courtroom together with 4 different co-accused within the case, which is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
On December 19, 2020, Special Judge P R Sitre had given “last chance” to Thakur to look earlier than the court docket.
He had expressed displeasure over her failure to look earlier than the court docket twice final month.
Earlier, in 2019, the court docket had mentioned the seven accused individuals within the case, all of whom are out on bail, ought to seem earlier than it at the very least as soon as per week.
On Monday, Thakur and 4 different accused – Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni, Ramesh Upadhyay and Sudhakar Chaturvedi – appeared earlier than the court docket.
The two different accused – Ajay Rahirkar and Sudhakar Dwivedi – had been absent.
One witness was additionally current within the court docket, however his cross-examination couldn’t be achieved because the advocate for accused Dwivedi was not accessible.
The court docket posted the trial for listening to on Tuesday.
After the common functioning of the court docket resumed in November final yr, following easing of the coronavirus-induced restrictions, the court docket had directed all of the seven accused within the case to stay current earlier than it on December 3.
However, many of the accused, together with Thakur, skipped the court docket that day, citing the pandemic state of affairs.
The court docket then requested them to look earlier than it on December 19.
Thakur once more didn’t seem that day and her lawyer advised the court docket that she was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for remedy.
The court docket then directed Thakur to look earlier than it in January 4, and mentioned this was the final likelihood given to her.
Thakur, who’s the BJP MP from Bhopal, had final appeared earlier than the court docket in June 2019 after it ordered the seven accused to stay current as soon as per week.
However, she had sought exemption from look on numerous events since then.
The trial within the case got here to a halt in March final yr following the lockdown imposed throughout the nation as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month, the particular NIA court docket resumed the trial.
So far, round 140 witnesses out of the full 400 have been examined.
On September 29, 2008, six individuals had been killed and over 100 others injured when an explosive system strapped on a motorbike went-off close to a mosque in Malegaon, a city about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra.
The court docket framed terror prices in opposition to Purohit, Thakur and 5 different accused in October 2018.
The accused within the case have been charged below Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
They have additionally been charged below Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120 (b) (prison conspiracy), 302 (homicide), 307 (try and homicide), 324 (voluntarily inflicting harm) and 153 (a) (selling enmity between two non secular teams), and related provisions of the Explosive Substances Act.
