Malegaon Blast trial: MP Pragya Singh Thakur seeks exemption from court appearance in morning citing health issues

Malegaon blast accused and Member of Parliament Pragya Singh Thakur, has sought exemption from appearing for trial before a Mumbai Court at 11 am citing medical reasons. .Thakur, one of the seven accused in the case, arrived in Court today at around 2 pm, nearly two hours after the other accused in the case appeared before the court.Thakur informed the Court that she suffers from health issues that prevent her from waking up early in the morning.The special court under the National Investigation Agency Act (NIA Act) did not say anything on the issue but adjourned the matter to October 3 to record the statements of the accused..Six people were killed and over 100 injured on September 29, 2008, when an explosive device placed on a motorbike went off near a mosque at Malegaon.The case was initially probed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) before it was transferred to NIA in 2011.The special court then framed charges against Thakur and other accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in October 2018.The investigating agency had cited 400 witnesses in its chargesheet; however 21 of them expired during the trial.The trial commenced almost five years after the prosecution closed its evidence..NIA had produced 323 witnesses in court out of which 34 had turned hostile. It informed the court that there were no more prosecution witnesses to produce in the case.On September 14, the NIA informed the Court that it has completed the recording of evidence of the accused.Following this, the Court summoned the seven accused to remain present in court so that their statements can be recorded under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).Under Section 313, a trial court has power to examine an accused so that he can get a chance to explain the circumstances in which are part of the evidence against the accused..Pursuant to that six out of seven accused appeared in court at 11 am when the court working hours begin. Thakur appeared at 2 pm and informed the Court of her health issue.Along with Thakur, the other accused who were present today were Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.The seventh accused, Sudhakar Dwivedi, was not present.His lawyer filed a plea seeking his exemption from appearance in court on the ground that he had certain religious rituals to attend to.The court, however, rejected his plea and issued a bailable warrant of ₹5,000 against Dwivedi.The defence will commence its evidence from October 3.