An anti-terror NIA court here today rejected the demand of an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case to have honorific 'Shri' prefixed to his name. "The court has rejected the application moved by Dayanand Pandey alias Shankaracharya seeking to add 'Shri' before his name," said special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal. Pandey had moved the court saying the honorific should be added to his name as he has the right to dignity and was not convicted by any court in any case. Accepting Rasal's argument, the special court judge S D Tekale rejected Pandey's application. Twelve people, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, were arrested in connection with the blast.

Source: dna July 25, 2017 16:52 UTC