Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was arrested by the Mumbai police's Anti Terrorist Squad in connection with the bomb blast in Malegaon on September 29, has claimed that she is innocent."I am being framed. This is an attempt to malign me," she told her lawyer Ganesh Sovani at a Nashik court on Monday.
The Bombay High Court has extended the tenure of special NIA judge A K Lahoti, who is conducting trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, till August 31. Lahoti's name featured in the annual transfer list of judges, issued earlier by the registrar general of the high court. The transfer order was to come into effect after the reopening of courts on June 9 following summer vacation. However, a fresh notification mentioned that Lahoti's tenure has been stayed till August 31, enabling him to pass the verdict in the case that is in the final stage of trial.
Alleging that the ATS machinery was being used at the behest of the Congress, which is practicing politics of Muslim appeasement, it said, 'the arrests of cultured and educated individuals in connection with the Malegaon blasts is an effort to crush Hindus to please Muslim fanatics in the country.'
The joint statement was issued by retired DGPs Julio Ribeiro, Prakash Singh, P K Hormis Tharakan, Kamal Kumar, Jacob Punnoose, Sanjeev Dayal, Jayanto Choudhury and N Ramachandran.
As many as 28 out of 41 sitting women MPs, including Sonia Gandhi, Hema Malini and Kirron Kher, retained their seats in Lok Sabha.
Uttam Ghosh offer his take on the Pragya Thakur controversy.
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"Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi Pragya," said Justice More while granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the 2008 Malegaon blast on Tuesday. Sadhvi's lawyer Shyam Dewani speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com on what were the circumstances under which she got bail.
"The remarks made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society," he said.
Sadhavi Pragya Thakur, the prime accused in 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts, on Wednesday sought bail in the Bombay high court on the ground that she was sick and had spent more than five years behind the bars but the prosecution opposed the relief to her saying there was evidence against her.
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The BJP distanced itself from her statement saying it did not agree with her, as "Mahatma Gandhi's killer cannot be a patriot".
'This is my last election; hence, I need people's support and blessing to achieve and ensure victory.'
"Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad must explain as to why Riyaz Bhatkal, an accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts, and who is allegedly involved in a series of recent blasts all over the country has not been put to narco tests," Prasad charged.
Here are some of the reactions to Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks that Godse was a deshbhakt.
Special NIA Judge V S Padalkar last month directed all the accused, including Thakur, to appear before the court at least once a week.
BJP's Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, appeared before a special NIA court here on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court has junked a plea filed by Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit seeking discharge in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
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The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
During investigation, 'sufficient evidences have not been found against' Pragya Singh Thakur and five others, the NIA said, adding it has submitted in the chargesheet 'that the prosecution against them is not maintainable'.
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
The EC on Saturday had issued a show-cause notice to Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused currently out on bail, over her remark made during an interview to a news channel.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday took a holy dip in Kshipra river during the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Ujjain.
Opposition is using a 'marak shakti' (killing power) to harm BJP leaders, says BJP's Bhopal MP.
YSR Congress MP Goddeti Madhavi has declared assets of just about Rs 1 lakh whereas the BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur, at 4th poorest, is worth Rs 4.44 lakh.
Shooters of underworld don Chhota Shakeel gang were targeting not only the lawyer of Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi but also the advocates of right wing Hindu activist Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is the prime accused in the Malegaon blasts case. "Our probe revealed that they (the shooters of Chhota Shakeel gang) wanted to eliminate lawyers of Pragya Thakur," said sources in the Mumbai Crime Branch.
The EC notice stated that it was a violation of chapter 4 of the model code of conduct, which pertains to maintenance of harmony between castes, communities, religious, linguistic groups.
The Congress on Friday termed the National Investigation Agecy's decision to drop all charges against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was a vindication of the disclosure made by former special public prosecutor.
Thakur, 48, also set the tone for her high-profile poll battle in Bhopal againt Congress candidate Digvijay Singh, whom she accused of using words like 'Hindu' and 'saffron' terror.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and lodged in the Nashik prison was hospitalised on Saturday.
The Dewas Police have filed a chargesheet against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and others in connection with the murder of RSS worker Sunil Joshi in 2007.
Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was admitted to Nashik Civil hospital, has refused to take medical treatment, hospital said on Monday.
'This court has not granted bail...wrong forum has been chosen'
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and the Sunil Joshi murder case, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, according to a report from the Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital in Bhopal. A mammography test on her confirmed the ailment on Wednesday, doctors attending on her said.
The Shiv Sena on Monday alleged that the Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was being tortured by the Mumbai police and that she had stopped partaking food for the last eight days.
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Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, suffered a mild heart attack on Wednesday night and her condition is now stable, hospital sources said on Thursday.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and another person, arrested for their alleged involvement in the September 29 Malegaon blast, were subjected to narco-analysis tests in Mumbai on Monday.The Sadhvi and Sameer Kulkarni underwent the scientific tests conducted by officials of the Forensic Science Laboratory in a hospital in south Mumbai, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad officials said.The tests on former army officer Ramesh Upadhyay is likely to be conducted on Wednesday.
While five accused remained present in the court, judge P R Sitre expressed displeasure over the absence of two others. The court then directed all the seven accused to appear before it on January 4.
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