Eight years after rationalist
Narendra Dabholkar
was shot dead in 2013, the trial in the case is set to begin from September 30 with the court of special UAPA judge S R Navander in Pune on Wednesday completing framing of charges against the five accused.
All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges of terrorism, criminal conspiracy, murder and destruction of evidence (see box). They said they should be tried after the court recorded their pleas.
The court directed that the accused shooters,
Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar
, be shifted from Aurangabad and Mumbai jails, respectively, to Pune’s Yerawada jail to ensure their presence during the trial. ENT surgeon Virendrasinh Tawde of Panvel, accused as the chief conspirator, is already in Yerawada. Vikram Bhave, accused of assisting the alleged shooters in a recce of the crime spot, and Mumbai lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar, accused of evidence destruction, are out on bail.
“The trial will take some time to commence because an opportunity will have to be given to the accused, their lawyers as well as the prosecution to prepare themselves,” said judge Navander. The next hearing is scheduled for September 30 when the process of recording of evidence is expected to begin.
Tawde, Andure and Kalaskar were produced via videoconferencing while Bhave and Punalekar were present in person and signed the recording of their plea.
Earlier, the court turned down Tawde, Andure and Kalaskar’s plea to defer the framing of charges. The judge told them that their lawyers have argued at length on framing of the charges and the matter can’t be re-argued.
Kalaskar, 29, who is lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, has moved the Bombay high court, seeking a stay on the trial. His writ petition, filed through lawyer Jyoti Ghorpade, is at pre-admission stage, according to information uploaded on the high court’s website.
Kalaskar, also an accused in the murder of Leftist leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February 2015 and in an arms haul case in Mumbai, has sought a stay on the trial of these two cases pending before the Kolhapur and Mumbai sessions courts, respectively, too.
He primarily takes exception to the fact that he was produced before the trial judges only twice between December 2019 and March 2020. His plea added that though the chargesheets were filed in 2015-16, no charges had been framed. All of a sudden, the Pune court was in haste to frame charges.
Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with
Women's Day wishes,
messages and
quotes !
Start a Conversation
Post comment