Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, appeared before a special NIA court in Mumbai on Monday. Pics/Shadab Khan
Updated On: 2023-09-25 04:10 PM IST
Compiled by : Asif Ali Sayed
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is one of the seven accused in the Malegaon blast case
She arrived around 2 pm, nearly two hours after the other accused in the case appeared before the court
Thakur informed the court that she suffers from health issues that prevent her from waking up early in the morning
The court then adjourned the matter to October 3 to record the statements of the accused
The prosecution had on September 14 informed the court that the process of recording of evidence in the case has been completed and no more prosecution witnesses need to be examined
Once the recording of evidence is completed, the court records the statements of the accused under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)
As per the provision, the court questions the accused generally on the case for the purpose of enabling them to personally explain any circumstances appearing in the evidence against them
Only six accused, Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni appeared before the court on Monday
Sudhakar Dwivedi was not present and his lawyer cited religious rituals as the reason for his inability to attend court, and sought exemption from appearance