Court rejects NBW against Raut

PUNE: The court of principal district and sessions judge Anant Badar on Wednesday shot down the prosecution's plea to issue a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against absconding suspect Yogesh Ashok Raut (25) in order to secure his presence at the trial for the gang rape and murder of software engineer Nayana Pujari.
Raut, one of the main suspects in the case, escaped from Sassoon general hospital on September 17.
When the case came up for hearing, special public prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar expressed his inability to file a "trial programme," as Raut was not in police custody.
Nimbalkar told the court that, instead of fixing the hearing on October 4, reasonable time should be given to the police to re-arrest Raut. Nimbalkar prayed that an NBW be issued against Raut.
Raut's lawyer Vidhyadhar Koshe was not present in court when the case came up for hearing.
Defence lawyer Biju Aloor, representing suspect Mahesh Thakur, submitted that the prosecution should take steps to secure Raut's presence and declare him a proclaimed offender under section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code so that the trial against Raut could be separated from that of the other suspects.
After hearing both sides, judge Badar turned down the prosecution's plea for an NBW against Raut. The Yerawada central prison had filed a report pertaining to Raut's escape on September 19.
Judge Badar said that Raut was an undertrial prisoner and that he had not been released on bail.
The accused-turned-approver Rajesh Chaudhary was produced in court under heavy police security. The other suspects Thakur and Vishwas Kadam were not produced in court.
Judge Badar said that if the suspects were not produced before him on the next date of hearing, he would secure their presence via video-conferencing.
Nayana Pujari, an employee of Synechron, a software company at Kharadi, was found raped and murdered at the Zarewadi forest area at Rajgurunagar in Khed, about 50 km from here, on October 8, 2009.