No ban on Pragya's candidature in LS polls

April 24, 2019 15:03

In a major relief to BJP's candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a special NIA court on Wednesday turned down the application filed by the father of a man victim of the 2008 Malegaon terror blast seeking to bar her from contesting the ongoing elections.

Special NIA Judge Vinod Padalkar while negating the plea, said, "In the ongoing elections this court does not have any legal powers to prohibit anyone from contesting elections. It is the job of the electoral officers to decide. This court can't stop the accused from contesting elections. This application is negated by this court."

During the course of hearing, Special Judge Padalkar stated that the agency cannot mention that there is no prima facie case against Thakur.

"....When a court of earlier NIA Judge had dismissed the discharge application, it means that the court has prima facie found material in the charges against the accused. At this juncture, NIA cannot state that there is no prima facie case against the accused as NIA has not challenged the order before the high court," Padalkar's order read.

During the course of hearing, NIA counsel told the court that the agency can't say anything on this as it cannot stay anyone's candidature in the election.

"That can be done by Election Commission itself. According to us, this court has no jurisdiction to prevent anyone from contesting elections as per Representation of People's Act," the NIA submitted before the court.

He also raised a question about the timing of the application and asked the lawyer of the applicant that if Pragya was in good health, why there was no objection to exemption given to her from appearing in the court.

On Tuesday, Thakur filed her response to the plea and dubbed the petition as "frivolous" adding that the plea was filed with a "political agenda" and was "publicity stunt"."

Thakur is among the seven accused facing trial in the Malegaon blast case, wherein six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when a bomb placed on a motorcycle exploded in Maharashtra's Malegaon on September 29, 2008. -- ANI

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