The BJP MP from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Friday appeared before a special court in Mumbai in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
Earlier, she failed twice to do so. She defeated the veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh from Bhopal.
Special NIA Judge V S Padalkar asked her if she has to say anything about the blast, Sadhvi Pragya said, “I don’t know.”
Citing statements of witnesses, the judge asked them whether they were aware that a bomb blast had taken place at Malegaon in North Maharashtra in September 2008 where six people were killed.
To this, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur replied, “Mujhe jankari nahi hai (I have no information about it).”
On Monday, the special court rejected application of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for exemption from appearance in the court this week.
She had sought the exemption for completing formalities relating to her election to the Parliament, but the court said that her presence is necessary at this stage in the case.
On Thursday, her lawyer Prashant Magoo told the court that she was suffering from high blood pressure and was unable to travel to Mumbai from Bhopal.
The court granted her exemption for the day and asked her to appear before it Friday. Judge Padalkar had last month directed all the accused, including Thakur, to appear before the court at least once a week.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a power-loom town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
It is remarkable that the Bombay High Court granted her bail in 2017. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), but the trial court refused to discharge her from the case.
The court had dropped charges against her under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), but she is being tried under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other relevant laws.
