Gujarat: Kandhal Jadeja’s acquittal in BJP councillor’s murder upheld

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday upheld the acquittal of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA from Kutiyana, Kandhal Jadeja, in the murder of Porbandar BJP councillor Keshu Nebha Odedara in 2005.
The bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J B Pardiwala dismissed the appeals against the acquittal order filed by the state government and the victim’s kin. The high court concurred with the Porbandar sessions court’s decision of acquittal in this case because none of the eyewitnesses named the accused.While the FSL report established that firing had taken place from a gun recovered from one of the accused persons, Kandhal’s brother, there was no evidence connecting the accused to the murder, even though the shooting had taken place in a marketplace in broad daylight.
During the hearing, the judges commented that the investigation in this case appeared to be perfunctory. To a question by the judge on why Kandhal and his family could have been implicated, Kandhal’s advocate Nirupam Nanavaty submitted that there was a political rivalry because the accused and victim belong to two different political parties.
According to the prosecution’s case, Kandhal Jadeja and his brother Kano Jadeja along with two others came in a car and opened fire on Odedara near a paan parlour at 10am on March 1, 2005. The police investigation revealed conspiracy and a total of nine persons were implicated in this case. They included ‘The Godmother’ Santokben Jadeja, Kandhal, his brothers Karan, Kano and Bhoja, Kandhal’s wife Rekha and others. While Kano has been absconding in this case for the last 15 years, Kandhal was arrested and put in jail. He escaped from custody and was arrested again after a year.
In February 2011, a sessions court in Porbandar acquitted all nine accused giving them the benefit of the doubt as no eyewitness could state who the assailants were.