A Mumbai special court on Thursday ordered the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to assess the significance of witnesses before summoning them to testify in the court related to the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The special court was hearing a petition filed by BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, a key defendant in the case, alleging that the prosecution was dragging out the trial.
Thakur also complained that on the day set for the witnesses’ deposition, the agency displays WhatsApp messages and emails indicating that they are unavailable.
A. K. Lahoti, a Special Judge, heard the case.
Allowing Thakur’s plea, the Special Judge said, “It is partly allowed. It is directed to the NIA or prosecution that before calling witnesses, assessment must be done pertaining to relevancy.”
The court further stated that the prosecution is not required to question every witness listed in the chargesheet and certain witnesses may be dismissed to avoid duplication. The court affirmed that it was up to the prosecution to pick whom witnesses to call, and that it would not interfere with that decision unless it could be demonstrated that the prosecution had been swayed by an indirect motivation.
Furthermore, the court added that in order to be fair to the court and the truth, the prosecution must select witnesses. It also stated that the NIA can be given instructions to assess witnesses’ relevance to the case before summoning them in order to save time and avoid repetition.
Representing the MP, Advocate JP Mishra, cited three instances in which the NIA summoned “irrelevant witnesses” to prove their case, and when the witnesses appeared in court, the prosecution decided to drop them.
Thakur also alleged that after being called before the court, at least 20 witnesses were dropped from the case. It was stated that doing this amounted to wasting the time of the court, which was assigned solely to the case’s trial.
Thakur’s argument was disputed by the NIA, who asserted through Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal that it was incorrect to assume that irrelevant witnesses were being called and that it was premature to debate their relevance.
Maintaining that witnesses cannot be dropped because they are irrelevant according to the accused, the bench stated on Thursday that the cardinal rule was to ensure that best available witnesses are brought before it.
The Malegaon blast killed six people and approximately 100 got injured. The blast took place on Sep 29, 2008 in Bhiku Chowk of Malegaon town of Maharashtra.
