Sadhvi moves HC, seeks discharge
The Hindu right wing terrorist Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur, prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case has approached the Bombay High Court challenging the orders of the special court, which refused to discharge her from the case.
Sadhvi Pragya has filed an appeal before the division bench headed by Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari through her counsel Prashant Maggu. The matter was listed for hearing on Tuesday however, could not be heard and now stands adjourned.
Sadhvi has challenged the orders of the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court which rejected her discharge application in December 2017. She had filed the discharge plea in the special court after she was bailed out by the Bombay High Court in April last year.
Sadhvi had sought discharge from the case citing the observations of Justice Ranjit More of the HC, who held there was ‘no prima facie’ material against her. However, the special Judge Shripad Tekale, turned down her plea.
Aggrieved by the orders of the special Judge Tekale, who has been transferred post his decision on Sadhvi’s discharge plea, she has now petitioned the HC.
“We have challenged the orders of the special judge who failed to consider the fact that my client has been given a clean chit by the NIA. The special court also did not consider the finding of the HC which categorically stated there is no prima facie evidence against Sadhvi,” advocate Prashant Maggu told The Free Press Journal.
Maggu further said, “The special court has also failed to take into consideration the fact that the Supreme Court of India has ruled the stringent MCOCA is not applicable on us. Thus, we contend the orders of the special court are perverse and must be quashed.”
It may be noted the NIA had granted a clean chit to Sadhvi and dropped all the charges invoked against her by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The NIA in its chargesheet exonerated Sadhvi for want of evidence.
Sadhvi sought discharge from the case citing observations of Justice Ranjit More of the HC, who held there was ‘no prima facie’ material against her.