Malegaon blast case: Special NIA court orders all accused to be present in court on Jan 4

During the proceedings of the 2008 Malegaon blast case on Saturday, a special NIA court in Mumbai expressed displeasure over the absence of accused persons in court despite strict orders for their physical appearance. Issuing directions for all 7 accused to be present during the next hearing, the NIA Court listed the matter for January 4. 

Notably, during the previous hearing, the court had registered the presence of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Sameer Kulkarni and Ajay Rahirkar, while BJP MP Pragya Thakur, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dwivedi, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi were reported absent during the proceedings. Despite the court's previous orders, Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi reported absent today. 

After the hearing, Sadhvi Pragya's lawyer JP Mishra alleged that the NIA was delaying the trial by refusing to proceed without the presence of all accused persons in court. Sadhvi Pragya's lawyer also apprised the court that the BJP MP was at present admitted in AIIMS, Delhi for treatment, citing the arrangements had been made for her stay in Mumbai. 

"It is the NIA which is delaying the trial and not us. if they allege that case is delayed due to the absence of the accused, then let them show examples when we have sought adjournment on basis of absence," he told news agency ANI. 

Read: 2008 Malegaon Blast Case: Another Witness Presented Before Court, Next Hearing On Dec 19

Read: Malegaon Blast Case: Witness Identifies Accused Ajay Rahikar, Court Adjourned Till Dec 15

Malegaon blast case

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 others were injured when a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon. Out of 400, till now 140 witnesses have been cross-examined by the court. Despite framing charges against the accused in October 2018, the retirement of the previous judge VS Padalkar and the Coronavirus pandemic caused a major setback in the delay of trials. 

Charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Explosive Substances Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The charges include sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153(a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups) of the IPC have been labelled against the aforementioned individuals. 

Read: BJP MP Pragya Thakur Claims Mumbai Top Cop Param Bir Singh 'framed Her' In Malegaon Case

Read: Malegaon Blast: Panch Witness Claims He Doesn't Remember Facts From Blast Site

(With Agency Inputs)