The Bombay High Court on Friday allowed a Hindu organisation to felicitate Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pragya Singh Thakur, who is a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, at an event on March 30.

A bench of Justices Ravindra Ghughe and Ashwin Bhobe allowed the Sakal Hindu Samaj to felicitate Thakur during an event celebrating the Hindu festival of Gudi Padwa on March 30 at the Malegaon city in the Nashik district. The bench said that the event can take place between 7 am and 5 pm, subject to several conditions.

Gudi Padwa is observed on the first day of the Chaitra month to mark the beginning of the new year according to the Hindu calendar.

Thakur, who was also the Bhopal MP from 2019 to 2024, is set to be conferred with a “Hindu Veer” award during the event on March 30.

The Sakal Hindu Samaj had on February 18 applied to the Malegaon tehsildar for permission for the event. On March 25, the tehsildar told the coordinator of the organisation that based on a report by the local police expressing concerns that the event could disturb law and order, permission for the event had been refused.

The Sakal Hindu Samaj claimed before the High Court that the denial of permission violated their rights under Article 25 of the Constitution, which deals with the freedom of religion.

The High Court, while granting permission, told the organisation to submit an undertaking to the Malegaon superintendent of police that no inflammatory speech targeting any religion would be made during the event. It also told the police to “earmark a particular route to the ground where the function would be arranged and ensure that it does not pass through a crowded and congested locality”.

The bench said: “After 78 years of the freedom of India, we have every reason to believe that the population of this country is sufficiently educated and wise to understand the self-imposed limitations on what to speak and what not to."

The court said that citizens of the country should be allowed to practice their religion and customs. It added: “Wisdom comes from understanding and harmony arises when we embrace that understanding with kindness and compassion. ‘Live and let live’ should be the hallmark of our character.”

During proceedings in the court, the petitioners, represented by advocate Subhash Jha, said that they were law-abiding citizens and added that the event was planned in an area with minimal Muslim population, which would reduce the likelihood of any disturbances, Bar and Bench reported.

However, government pleader Neha Bhide said that permission should not be granted keeping in mind the communal violence that erupted in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on March 17 over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb and previous incidents involving Thakur.

The violence in Nagpur on March 17 took place hours after Hindutva groups held a protest in the city demanding that Aurangzeb’s tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar be removed

The court said that holding the event during the day would be more manageable in terms of ensuring security and allowed it to take place between 7 am and 5 pm on March 30.

2008 Malegaon blast case

Six persons were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a two-wheeler went off near a mosque in north Maharashtra’s Malegaon on September 29, 2008. Hindutva outfit Abhinav Bharat is suspected of carrying out the attack.

Thakur is the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts.

The case was initially investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. However, it was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency in 2011.

Besides the BJP leader, six other persons are facing trial in the case – Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi.

They have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code, including murder.

Thakur is currently out on bail.

Also read: Pragya Singh Thakur and the dangers of India’s emerging majoritarian democracy