Sadhvi Pragya cleared of Joshi murder
NIA likely to drop charges of murder against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur
Days after the Bombay High Court allowed Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi’s murder case, to convert her bail petition into an appeal, another relief is on her way as the NIA has finally accepted that police have arrested wrong people in connection with the case.
As per a report published in the Indian Express, according to the NIA probe, Joshi was killed by Lokesh Sharma and Rajender Pehalwan, both accused in the Samjhauta blasts case, for allegedly misbehaving with Thakur. The duo was reportedly helped by Dilip Jagtap and Jitender Sharma. All the four have been arrested.
The sources said the agency is seeking the Home Ministry’s sanction to prosecute the four accused, after which a chargesheet will be filed. The agency is also examining the CFSL report on the murder weapon, the report further said.
Sadhvi Pragya had earlier sought bail on the ground that she is suffering from spondylitis and other ailments for which hospitalisation is needed.
Thakur had earlier filed a bail petition, which was heard by a single judge and order was to be pronounced.
But in the meanwhile Supreme Court held that all the matters arising out of investigation by National Investigation Agency (NIA) should be treated by the High Courts as appeals and should be heard by a division bench.
The Supreme Court gave this ruling on NIA’s plea challenging two bail orders — one by Bombay High Court and another by Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Supreme Court, on September 13, said in all the matters in which bail is granted or rejected by a Special NIA Court, the aggrieved party can challenge it the form of a Criminal Appeal. Accordingly, division bench headed by Justice PV Hardas on December 11 allowed Thakur to amend her petition.
(With inputs from agencies) http://www.niticentral.com/2013/12/27/nia-likely-to-drop-charges-of-murder-against-sadhvi-pragya-173059.html
NIA set to drop case against Sadhvi Pragya, others arrested by MP Police
Rahul Tripathi : New Delhi, Fri Dec 27 2013, 06:20 hrs
Nearly six years after the murder of RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has concluded that the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested the wrong people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. Joshi, an accused in the 2006 Malegaon blasts and the Samjhauta and Ajmer blasts in 2007, was found dead in Dewas on December 29, 2007.
According to the NIA probe, Joshi was killed by Lokesh Sharma and Rajender Pehalwan, both accused in the Samjhauta blasts case, for allegedly misbehaving with Thakur. The duo were reportedly helped by Dilip Jagtap and Jitender Sharma. All the four have been arrested. Sharma, a BJP youth wing leader, was arrested from Mhow recently, after which the NIA claimed the probe had been completed.
NIA sources said the group also feared that Joshi may expose their alleged involvement in bomb blast cases. Lokesh Sharma and Rajender Pehalwan are also reported to have had a financial dispute with Joshi.
The sources said the agency is seeking the home ministry's sanction to prosecute the four accused, after which a chargesheet will be filed. The agency is also examining the CFSL report on the murder weapon.
The agency then plans to approach the MP special court seeking to drop the charges against Pragya Singh Thakur, Harshad Solanki, Vasudev Parmar, Anand Raj Kataria and BJP councillor Ramcharan Patel, who were booked under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) by the MP Police.
While Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, is currently in jail, Parmar, Kataria and Patel have been released on bail. Solanki is also still in jail for his alleged role in other crimes. The MP Police, in its chargesheet filed in 2011, had claimed that Joshi was shot by Harshad Solanki. It had said that Joshi was killed because Solanki and the others had started regarding him as a threat.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nia-set-to-drop-case-against-sadhvi-pragya-others-arrested-by-mp-police/1212272/
Pragya Thakur to get NIA's clean chit in Joshi murder case
Last updated on: December 27, 2013 13:27 IST
The NIA has found nothing to suggest that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was involved in the murder of Malegaon and Samjhauta blasts accused Sunil Joshi, reports Vicky Nanjappa.Ending a six-year long ordeal, the National Investigation Agency is all set to give a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Sunil Joshi murder case.
Joshi was named as an accused in the Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blasts cases, and was found murdered at Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, on December 29, 2007.
The NIA, which was handling the murder case, had named Pragya Singh Thakur, Harshad Solanki, Vasudev Parmar, Anand Raj Kataria and Ramcharan Patel as accused. However, during the course of the investigation, the agency found nothing on the above mentioned persons and have now decided to drop charges against them.
Sources in the NIA told Rediff.com that the case is clear today and they have found that Joshi was murdered by Lokesh Sharma and Rajendra Pehalwan. They were aided by two others: Jitender Sharma and Dilip Jagtap.
“The NIA will now proceed against these four persons,” the NIA officer said.
All the four have been arrested, but the real breakthrough in the case came in only after the arrest of Lokesh Sharma. Sharma, who was a youth wing leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, was arrested in Mhow in January this year.
During the course of his interrogation, Sharma reported exactly what had happened. He also pointed out that Sadhvi Pragya Singh was not involved in the case, NIA sources said.
“Sharma said that Sunil Joshi had fallen out with them and was threatening to spill the beans on their activities. Joshi aspired to contest elections and hence wanted to come clean. He had even thought of surrendering before the police which did not go down too well with his accomplices. This was the main reason for the murder,” the officer said.
The NIA has now decided to take this case further by seeking a sanction from the Union home ministry to prosecute Sharma and three others. Subsequently they would also move an application before the Madhya Pradesh special court to drop charges against Pragya Singh Thakur, Harshad Solanki, Vasudev Parmar, Anand Raj Kataria and Ramcharan Patel.
Sources in the NIA, however, pointed out that there were certain unresolved aspects in the case that are yet to be solved before the final closure. The recovered weapons used in the murder have been sent to the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory for examination.
Ganesh Sovani, advocate for Sadhvi Pragya Singh, told Rediff.com that this is a welcome development.
“It is good that truth has prevailed and charges will be dropped against my client. She however is still an accused in the Malegaon-2 case and we are hopeful that she will be discharged in that case as well. Her bail application is still pending before the court and we are hopeful of a verdict very soon,” Sovani said.
NIA officials also said that their primary agenda would be to complete the Sunil Joshi murder case as soon as possible.
“The (Joshi murder) case had its own repercussions and appeared to be connected to the Malegaon and Samjautha case. Whether Sadhvi was involved in the Malegaon case or not is still under investigation and we are hopeful of solving that case soon as well”, the NIA officer.