'She got bail on health conditions': Malegaon blast victim’s father moves NIA court against Sadhvi Pragya contesting

Special National Investigation Agency cases judge V S Padalkar sought replies from both the NIA and Thakur and posted the matter for Monday.

The applicant sought that Thakur, who is out on bail, be asked to attend court proceedings in Mumbai and be barred from contesting the election as the trial is in progress.

It further mentioned that Thakur got bail on health grounds. If she was "healthy enough to fight elections in the crippling summers heat", then she has misled the court, the complainant alleged. 

A petition seeking cancellation of her bail was pending before the Supreme Court, it said.

Six people were killed and over hundred injured in a bomb blast at Malegaon, a communally-sensitive textile town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested Thakur and others in the case, alleging that they were part of a Hindu extremist group which carried out the blast.

The NIA later gave Thakur a clean chit, but the court did not discharge Thakur.

It dropped charges against her under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, but she is still facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code sections. 

Political activist Tehseen Poonawalla Thursday urged the Election Commission to debar BJP's Bhopal candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from contesting the Lok Sabha polls as she was facing terror charges.
In a letter to the poll body, Poonawalla said the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had found Thakur to be the "principal conspirator" in the 2008 Malegaon blast in which six people were killed. 
 

Her name has also cropped up in the Ajmer Dargah blast case, he said. 

"I would humbly request the Election Commission of India to take further necessary steps to uphold the Model Code of Conduct 2019 and take appropriate action against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and debar her from contesting elections," the letter read.

He said in his letter that "a candidate accused with terror links must not be permitted to contest elections." Thakur has spent nine years in jail and is out on bail since 2017 on health grounds and she is currently facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the activist said. She also stands accused of "murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, and of promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion", Poonawalla, who is known for his proximity with the Congress, said. 

However, as per the law, any citizen above 25 years of age is eligible to contest polls unless convicted for any crime that entails punishment for two years or more.

The BJP on Wednesday fielded Thakur from stronghold Bhopal to take on former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh. 

The BJP Thursday said it will contest Lok Sabha election in Bhopal, where it has fielded Malegaon blast case accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, as a fight against the Congress' "conspiracy" to defame Hindu religion by linking it to terrorism.
Its spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao claimed that the conspiracy has been "exposed", claiming that Thakur has been discharged in some cases. He also mentioned the arrest of Hindutva activist Swami Aseemanand and his recent acquittal to attack the opposition party.
 

Thakur has been discharged of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act but is still facing other serious charges in the case. Aseemanand was recently acquitted in the Samjhauta Express blast case.

"We are contesting this election in Bhopal as a fight against the Congress conspiracy to insult Hindu religion by linking it to terrorism. Digvijay Singh was the face of this conspiracy," Rao told reporters. Singh is the Congress candidate from the seat.

Dubbing Thakur as an innocent person, he said she was tortured and asked opposition parties what problem they have if the BJP has fielded her as its candidate. 

He alleged that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had "masterminded" this conspiracy, claiming that it was meant to appease a minority community.

He also claimed that "Islamic terror" is an accepted notion the world over as "large number of terror organisations perpetrate terror in the name of the religion".

The press conference was cut short when a man threw shoes towards him and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, who was sitting besides him.

The accused was immediately restrained by a party worker and was bundled out by security. He was later taken into police custody for questioning