‘Frivolous’, ‘politically motivated’: Sadhvi Pragya on plea to bar her from contesting

Bhopal, Apr 23: Pragya Singh Thakur, the BJP's candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday dubbed the application seeking to bar her from contesting the Lok Sabha election as "frivolous" and moved with a "political agenda", and sought its dismissal by the special NIA court

Thakur responded to the plea on Tuesday through her lawyer before special judge for National Investigation Agency cases V S Padalkar.

She said in her reply 'application is frivolous and politically motivated and should be dismissed along with exemplary cost imposed on the applicant'.

"The applicant has deliberately chosen this court to ventilate misconceived and frivolous application for want of publicity and for extraneous reasons with political agenda," she said.

The applicant has not only wasted the precious time of this court, but also attempted to consequentially drag, demean and/or lower the dignity and reputation of the court, Thakur said in her response.

She prayed the court to dismiss the application with an exemplary cost. She also urged that the applicant be dealt with sternly for filing such a "frivolous" plea.

The petitioner, Nisar Ahmed Sayyad Bilal, is the father of Sayyed Azhar Nisar Ahmed, who was killed in the blast.

Bilal said in his plea that Thakur was enlarged on bail on the pretext that she had breast cancer, but has been participating in various programs and giving objectionable speeches ever since she was released from jail in 2017.

Bilal claimed that Thakur misled the court, since she has been campaigning for elections in the heat of summer despite being released on health grounds.

Bilal has urged the court to direct that Thakur be banned from contesting the polls, and that she should attend court in Mumbai as the trial is still under way.

The Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, and the results will be declared on May 23. Polling will be held in Bhopal on May 12.