Denied bail, 2008 blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur to move HC

The agency said they don’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute Pragya Singh Thakur

The legal team of Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, will move the Bombay high court (HC), challenging the rejection of her bail plea by a special national investigation agency (NIA) court on Tuesday.

On May 13, the NIA submitted a supplementary charge sheet giving a clean chit to six accused, including Pragya Singh Thakur.(HT File)

“The court has not appreciated the material aspects while passing the rejection order. Recently when rejecting the bail plea of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, the Bombay high court has held filing of a final report by the NIA is a material change in circumstances. The special NIA court, however, has not considered the observation of the HC and held there is no change in the circumstance,” said Prashant Maggu, Thakur’s lawyer.

On May 13, the NIA submitted a supplementary charge sheet giving a clean chit to six accused, including Singh, and recommended all charges against them be dropped. The agency said they don’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute Singh.

The special NIA court on Tuesday however, rejected the bail application, stating the agency’s stand to exonerate her does not change the circumstances. Even as the witnesses have retracted from their statements about her role in the conspiracy, the court held the witnesses have not denied her presence in a meeting at Bhopal, where the plan was hatched. “The court has not considered the stand taken by the NIA, which clearly states there is no evidence against her. There are many more grounds on which we will challenge the order of the NIA court, once we get a copy of the order. She has been suffering a lot and her health is deteriorating,” Maggu said.

The order is likely to have an impact on the bail plea of another accused Pravin Takkalki, who has been exonerated by the NIA for lack of evidence. The court is scheduled to pass an order for Takkalki, soon, said his lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar.