HC drops Pragya aide plea on NIA

The NIA has received a shot in the arm in its Malegaon blast probe with the Delhi High Court dismissing a petition by a close associate of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The petition had sought action against NIA officials for alleged illegal detention and custodial torture.

While dismissing the petition by Ananth Brahmchari,the court said,“An officer of the NIA has jurisdiction to investigate and arrest any person relating to scheduled offences anywhere in India coupled with all the powers,duties,privileges and liabilities of a police officer. He would be deemed to be an officer in-charge of the police station discharging the functions of such an officer within the limits of the station.”

Brahmchari had argued that he was in Mumbai when the NIA summoned him to Panchkula in Haryana and later to Delhi in violation of the laws. This torturous treatment by NIA,he alleged, had prompted him to attempt suicide at a guesthouse in Delhi on January 5 last year.