NIA order on my candidature is victory of truth: Pragya

Malegaon blast accused and Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP) Bhopal Parliamentary Constituency candidate Pragya Singh Thakur hailed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) courts decision to turn down a plea seeking to bar her from contesting general election 2019, saying it is a victory of "truth and virtues". The court said it does not have any legal powers to prohibit anyone from contesting elections, it is the job of electoral officers to decide.

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP) Bhopal Parliamentary Constituency candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur Wednesday hailed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) courts decision to turn down a plea seeking to bar her from contesting general election 2019, saying it is a victory of "truth and virtues".

"This is our victory. Truth and dharma (virtue) always win. I already knew it ( NIA courts decision). I have done no wrong," said Pragya while addressing a presser. She also accused Congress of conspiring against her.

Earlier Wednesday a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai rejected a plea filed by Nisar Sayyad who lost his son in the 2008 Malegaon blast, seeking to bar Thakur from contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. In his plea before the special court, Sayyad had mentioned that a petition seeking cancellation of Thakur's bail is pending before the Supreme Court.

Special NIA Judge Vinod Padalkar while negating the plea, said, "In present 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."

Special Judge Padalkar stated that the agency cannot mention that there is no prima facie case against Thakur.

The applicant's lawyer argued before the court that Pragya was not attending the court proceedings on grounds of ill health but undertook election campaign where she is not looking ill.

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".

In her reply filed before the NIA court, Pragya said, "There is no provision in the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, which disqualifies the candidate from contesting elections if a criminal case is pending against him/her."

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.