NIA mum on rejection of clean chit to Pragya

NEW DELHI: A day after a Mumbai special court rejected the clean chit given to Pragya Singh Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon blast case by the NIA at this stage, the federal anti-terror agency chose to remain mum on the order.

The Congress, however, demanded sacking of agency chief Sharad Kumar.

“Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh should tell the country about the manipulative hand in their government that is allowing miscarriage of justice in this case,” Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said.

“It is a judicial order and we would not like to comment on it,” Kumar said.

But sources said the court’s order has put the agency in a difficult situation. If the court rules in favour of framing charges against Thakur, the NIA as the prosecution agency may have to produce evidence against her despite having given her a clean chit.

“But that stage will come if the court decides to frame charges against Pragya and other accused on the basis of Maharashtra AntiTerrorism Squad( ATS) probe that was conducted before the Centre transferred the case to the NIA,” said an agency official.

In its supplementary charge sheet filed last month, the NIA told the court it did not have evidence against Thakur. After the agency’s clean chit, Thakur decided to seek bail from court.

But the judge rejected her application, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that charges against her were prima facie true. The court also castigated the NIA for not conducting any further probe on the basis of statements recorded by the ATS.