MUMBAI/BHOPAL: BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday once again skipped appearing before a special NIA court in Mumbai in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case hearing, saying she was hospitalised due to poll-related stress. Pragya, however, attended the Maharana Pratap Jayanti programme in Bhopal’s busy MP Nagar area under the scorching sun at around 11.30 am before going back to the hospital.
This was the second time this week that the Bhopal MP failed to appear before the court. She had sought exemption from personal appearance before the court for completing formalities relating to Parliament. Rejecting her plea on Monday, the judge made a personal appearance before the court mandatory for her this week.
On Tuesday, Pragya got admitted to a hospital in Bhopal. However, on Wednesday she was allowed by the doctors to go home to take a bath and perform puja and religious rituals. During this period, Pragya attended a tree plantation programme and visited the house of Bhopal’s Qazi on Wednesday to greet him on Eid. On Thursday morning, too, she was allowed to go home for five-six hours for bathing and puja and during this period she attended the Pratap Jayanti event.
In the court, however, Thakur’s lawyer Prashant Magoo submitted before Judge V S Padalkar her plea seeking exemption from personal appearance. “Thakur is suffering from high blood pressure due to election-related stress and is unable to travel from Bhopal to Mumbai,” he told the court.
The judge granted her exemption for the day and warned her to appear before it on Friday, or “else she will have to face consequences”.
When asked how the Bhopal MP continued to appear for public engagements despite claiming to be unwell and unfit to travel, her sister Upma said Pragya was hospitalised for a stomach ailment but was allowed to attend a function on Thursday after which she returned to the hospital.
According to Dr Ajay Mehta, director of Bhopal Care Hospital where she is admitted, she suffers from multiple problems like high blood pressure, dehydration and gastroenteritis. “She insisted that she has to appear before the court and requested us to discharge her as early as possible. Upon her insistence we have given her a 5-6 hours’ leave from hospital today,” he said. Late on Thursday evening, she was discharged by the doctors.