E-Paper
HC reserves order on bail of Sadhvi in Malegaon blast case
The Bombay High Court has reserved an order on the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, prime accused in the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.
The Bombay High Court has reserved an order on the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, prime accused in the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.
After the trial court rejected her bail plea, Sadhvi moved to the High Court seeking liberty on the ground that chargesheet had not been filed within the stipulated 90-day period.
Justice SC Dharmadhikari reserved the order on Monday after hearing arguments of prosecution and accused.
Sadhvi's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani argued that she was illegally detained for 14 days by police before her arrest in this case.
He submitted that Sadhvi was picked up by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on October 10, 2008, whereas their record shows that she was arrested on October 23.
If she was actually taken into custody on October 10, the chargesheet should have been filed by January 9. Since it was filed ten days later, she is entitled to bail, he claimed.
ATS, on the other hand, contended that she was not illegally detained but was interrogated for ten days prior to her arrest.
Government's counsel, Amit Desai, argued that even if there were irregularities, the consequences could not be the release of the accused because she was facing grave charges.
