The Bombay high court on Wednesday sought the reply of the Union government on a petition filed by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, challenging the constitutional validity of the National Investigation Agency.
Pragya Singh Thakur, the sadhvi arrested in connection with Malegaon bomb blasts, will undergo polygraph, brain mapping and narco tests, a government lawyer said on Monday.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from Mumbai in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
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.'
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has decided to move the Bombay High Court challenging the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act which has been slapped against her in connection with the Malegaon case.
A sadhvi who travelled in the ill-fated Sabarmati Exress told Godhra Commission that the train was stopped for some youths who had been left behind on Godhra station.
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.
It is incredible that the Sadhvi was kept in illegal detention for two weeks while she was tortured in a vicious manner which led to her hospitalisation. Polygraph and narco tests were conducted without her consent. Not even a female constable was present during her illegal confinement.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Monday issued a bailable warrant against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, for failing to appear before it despite repeated warnings.
On Tuesday, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti kicked up a storm when she used expletives during a campaign speech in Delhi. While campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party, she called the electorate to choose between Ramzadon and h********n.
The Bombay high court Friday asked Maharashtra government whether it had any objection in granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast, on medical grounds.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case and the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Sunil Joshi on Tuesday claimed that she was innocent and had been framed by 'non-believers'.
Known for courting controversies, the Sadhvi claimed the mission of a Congress-free India has already been "accomplished" and it is now time to rid the country of Muslims.
She was being shifted from Nashik Ayurvedic Hospital to JJ Hospital in Mumbai following a court order. However, she developed chest pain after starting for Mumbai at around 1.30 pm, her lawyer Umesh Walzade told PTI.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on Tuesday approached the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court seeking home food alleging that she is being served non-vegetarian food in the prison.
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.
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 Bombay high court on Thursday permitted Sadhvi Pragya Singh, accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, to travel by an air-conditioned compartment to attend proceedings in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh in connection with the Sunil Joshi murder case trial.
Pragya will undergo brain-mapping, polygraph and lie detector tests at Forensic Science Laboratory in suburban Santa Cruz, ATS Director Rukmani Krishnamurthy said. The Nashik court had permitted the ATS to conduct these psychological tests on Sadhvi.
Charging the Centre with appeasing minorities for electoral gains, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Saturday called for a nationwide agitation to highlight the 'oppression of Hindus'."On one hand, the government is not executing death sentence to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and on the other it is torturing an innocent person like Sadhvi Pragya Singh, who has been falsely implicated in the Malegaon blast case," VHP leader Venkatesh Abdev said.
"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.
The NIA had also not opposed her bail application.
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.
In the eye for her hate speech in New Delhi while being on the campaign trail, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti apologized for her remarks but said that she would not quit the Cabinet.
A Mumbai court on Saturday rejected the plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, seeking a direction to authorities that she be taken to Bhopal either by a plane or in an AC compartment of train for appearance in a murder case trial there.
Controversial Hindutva leader Sadhvi Prachi on Tuesday termed Shah Rukh Khan as a "Pakistani agent", who should be sent to that country.
Prachi's controversial outburst that sparked an outrage also saw her asking the Centre to hand over Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Naved Yakub to Hindu organisations.
Dismissing her bail plea, a bench of justices J M Panchal and H L Gokhale said, "There is no merit in the petition".
Aiming to retain power at the Centre for the third time in a row, the Bharatiya Janata Party while banking heavily on its sitting MPs on Saturday released the first list of 51 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is facing charges under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act for her alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, has moved the Supreme Court for bail. The petition is listed for hearing on Monday before a bench comprising Justices J M Panchal and Gyan Sudha Mishra. Pragya's counsel Sushil Balwada has filed the petition challenging the denial of bail by the Bombay high court.
The Bombay high court has directed the National Investigation Agency to file its reply on a petition challenging its constitutional validity. Justice A S Oka was hearing a petition filed by Malegaon blasts accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur challenging the constitutional validity of the setting up of the NIA.
Addressing BJP workers in Bhopal on Thursday night, Thakur had claimed that Karkare died during the attacks as she 'cursed' him for torturing her.
A week after her hate speech that triggered widespread outrage, Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Monday addressed two rallies in the capital including one at Trilokpuri of East Delhi which had witnessed communal clashes last month.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the main accused in the Malegaon blast case, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking bail, after her plea was rejected by the Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crime Act court. The court on Friday adjourned the hearing for two weeks as the Anti Terrorism Squad sought time to file its reply. Earlier, the special MCOCA court had rejected her bail application. According to Thakur's lawyer, advocate Ganesh Sowani, she had been illegally detained.
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.
BJP MP Sadhvi Prachi advised youngsters not to idolise actors like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan who spread a culture of violence.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
The National Investigation Agency on Saturday opposed the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in the Malegaon blast case, in the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court. The agency said that she aided and abetted the other accused with the full knowledge of the terror strike and had offered all support to them. On November 18, Thakur had filed a bail application in the special MCOCA court for the third time.
'BJP sarkaar 5 saal mein Ram Mandir bhi nahi bana paayi. Ab Ram Mandir nahi toh Modi nahi'