Setback to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Special NIA court rejects Bhopal MP's exemption plea

The Special NIA Court in Mumbai rejected exemption plea of BJP’s Bhopal lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday. According to news agency, Thakur had given the ground for exemption as she is MP and she has to attend the parliament on a day-to-day basis. However, the Special NIA Court has given Pragya Thakur an exemption for today from attending the court.

Earlier, Thakur’s oath-taking ceremony in the Lok Sabha was marred with controversies. The mention of Swami Purna Chetnanand Avdheshanand Giri as a suffix to her name evoked a sharp reaction from the Opposition members who said that such a thing was not permitted.

While Opposition parties protested this and screamed slogans, the ruling benches started slogan shouting in her favour. Pro-tem Speaker Virendra Kumar sought to know from the Lok Sabha Secretary General, the full name.

Amid noise and objections, Kumar ruled that only the name written in her election certificate issued by the returning officer would go on record.

The Malegaon blast accused took oath in Sanskrit and ended it with 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogan. Later, BJP members continued to raise 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogans, teasing the Opposition. They started raising slogan after oath taking by every BJP member. Pragya Thakur defeated Congress stalwart and former chief minister Digvijay Singh from Bhopal Lok Sabha Constituency.

After Ganjendra Umarao Singh Patel (BJP) completed his oath with 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', N K Premchandran (RSP) urged the Pro-tem Speaker to maintain the prescribed format of the oath.

The Pro-tem speaker ruled that the members stick to the format provided. After this, the members of BJP started adding 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' after the end of every oath.

Some of the prominent names who took oath from Madhya Pradesh included K P Yadav who defeated Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rakesh Singh, Ramakant Bhargava, and Nakul Nath. Indore MP Shankar Lalwani took oath in Sindhi.

Thakur’s legal troubles are also mounting. Previously, the Special NIA Court had directed Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and all other accused of Malegaon 2008 blast case to remain present before the court at least once a week.  The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, which expressed displeasure over their absence in the courtroom, has set May 20 as the next date of hearing.  Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.   

In October last year, a special court had framed charges under the UAPA against Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and some other accused persons in the case.