Mahesh Jethmalani, senior defence counsel for sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur contended before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Saturday that the prosecution's case against the Malegaon 2008 blast case accused was fabricated.
Mr. Jethmalani, arguing Ms. Sadhvi's bail application, said the case was built round her erstwhile ownership of a motorbike found at the blast site. The matter has been posted to February 25.
Secondly, “there was no independent witness” to implicate her in the two meetings with the Pune-based organisation Abhinav Bharat, held in Bhopal and Jabalpur.
“Three of the four witnesses who speak of my presence at the Bhopal meeting are accomplices [in the blast]. The fourth and independent witness does not implicate me,” Mr. Jethmalani told The Hindu .
‘No evidence'
As for the Jabalpur meeting, Mr. Jethmalani said, there was “no evidence” to prove that Ms. Sadhvi knew the other suspects Shiv Narayan Gopal Singh Kalsanghra and Sandeep Dange.
He also refuted the confession of another key accused Sudhakar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey. Pandey, who said in his statement that he travelled together with Ms. Sadhvi to Indore, retracted his confession statement, Mr. Jethmalani said.
One witness contradicted Pandey's testimony that he had stayed at the circuit house in Indore. “The only evidence against her is Pandey's confession which has been retracted. The whole story is fabricated,” Mr. Jethmalani argued.
‘Incredulous tale'
The prosecution presented an “incredulous” tale of Ms. Sadhvi's exchange with Kalsanghra in the aftermath of the blast.
