Mumbai: BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur on Friday appeared before a special court here in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case, after failing twice this week to do so.
When Special NIA Judge V S Padalkar asked the saffron-clad Thakur if she has to say anything about the blast, she said, “I don’t know.”
The BJP MP made the appearance as per the special court’s direction that all the accused should present themselves before it once a week.
The judge read out his order to the accused where he had directed them to do so. He said the court has so far examined 116 witnesses including doctors and ‘panchas’. However, during most the the hearings, the accused were absent and represented by their advocates, he added.
He then called up Thakur and another accused, Sudhakar Dwivedi, to the witness box and asked them whether they were aware of the Malegaon blast in which six people were killed, to which Thakur replied, “Mujhe jankari nahi hai” (I have no information about it).
Dwivedi also gave a similar answer. This was Thakur’s first appearance before the court after becoming an MP. The last time was during the framing of charges in the case in October last year.
A red velvet cloth was put on the bench, where the accused sit, for Thakur to sit comfortably. When the judge called her to witness box to stand till the order is passed she said she will stand leaning by the window instead of sitting in the chair given by the court.
Special NIA Judge V S Padalkar last month directed all the accused, including Thakur, to appear before the court at least once a week. (PTI)
