Malegaon blast case: SC reserves order on Pragya bail plea

The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur who is facing charges under MCOCA for her alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur who is facing charges under MCOCA for her alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

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A bench of judges J M Panchal and H L Gokhale reserved the order after hearing all the parties, including Maharashtra government which opposed the bail plea.

Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Pragya Singh Thakur, pleaded with the court to grant her bail as she had been subjected to harassment, physical torture and verbal abuses by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) squad during her "illegal" custody from October 10, 2008 onwards.

Seven people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008, at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in Nasik district of Maharashtra. The probe into the blast had brought into focus the alleged involvement of some right-wing Hindu groups.

Jethmalani submitted Thakur was entitled to bail as Maharashtra's ATS had failed to file the charge sheet against her within the mandatory 90 days of her arrest on October 23, 2008.

Maharashtra government counsel Asha Nair, however, took the plea that Thakur was arrested on October 23 and produced before a magistrate as required under the law.