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A special court in Mumbai has granted exemption to the 2008 Malegaon blast case accused Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Sudhakar Chaturvedi from appearing before it this week. When the matter was taken up by the special NIA court on Monday, the three accused filed applications through their lawyers seeking exemption from appearance.
While Thakur and Chaturvedi said they are busy with preparations for the upcoming results of the Lok Sabha polls, which they had contested, Purohit cited personal difficulties. The court allowed the applications.
The court also allowed an application filed by lawyers of the accused persons to visit the blast site in Malegaon, a town about 200 kilometers from here in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.
Last week, the special NIA court, which is conducting a trial against seven accused in the case, had directed all of them to appear before it at least once a week.
