Malegaon blast: Pragya Thakur’s plea rejected; asked to be present in court

A special NIA court on June 3 (Monday) has rejected a plea by terror-accused BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur seeking exemption to appear before it in connection with the Malegaon blast case, said media reports.

According to a report on The Indian Express, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court had directed the Bhopal MP, an accused in the blast case, to remain present for the hearing this week.

However, Thakur had moved a plea seeking to be exempted from being present at the hearing due to completion of Parliamentary procedures, it said.

In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, Thakur, fielded by the BJP, defeated Congress leader and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.

Besides Thakur, the report said, the court had last month granted exemption to Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit and Sudhakar Chaturvedi from appearing for hearing.

After the matter was taken up by the special NIA court, the three had filed applications seeking exemption from appearance, it said.

Earlier, all the seven accused in the terror blast case were directed to be present before the court once a week.