The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in terrorism-related cases seeking bail contending that her arrest was illegal.
A Bench of Justices J.M. Panchal and H.L. Gokhale, dismissing an appeal filed by Pragnya against a Bombay High Court order, said: “So far as merits are concerned, counsel for the appellant has not addressed this Court at all and in fact bail is not claimed on merits in the present appeal at all.” According to the appellant, she was arrested on October 10, 2008, was not produced within 24 hours of her arrest and, therefore, she was entitled to be released from custody since Article 22 (2) of the Constitution had not been complied with.
Rejecting her plea, the Bench said: “The appellant's contention that she was arrested on October 10, 2008, and was in police custody since then is found to be factually incorrect by this Court. The appellant was arrested only on October 23, 2008, and within 24 hours thereof, on October 24, 2008 she was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nasik. As such, there is no violation of either Article 22(2) of the Constitution or Section 167 of Cr.PC.”
