The accused in activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar murder has approached the Bombay High Court stating that as the trial in the murder case has commenced, the High Court can now stop monitoring the case.
A Division Bench comprising of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice PD Naik have asked for a response from Dabholkar’s family to the applications of the three accused – Vikram Bhave, Sharad Kalaskar and Virendrasinh Tawade.
The founder and head of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti,an anti-superstition outfit, was shot dead in August 2013, allegedly by members of a radical outfit called Sanatan Sanstha.
In 2014,when the investigation began,the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against five accused in the murder case.
In 2021 after the charges were framed against all five accused,the trial in the case commenced in September.
Advocate Subhash Jha, who has come for an accused, submitted that since the trial had commenced, the High Court could discontinue with its monitoring of the trial.
In 2015,Dabholkar’s kin filed a petition in the court but back then the trial in the case had not begun. Bench has also asked them for their views.
The High Court posted the case for hearing on January 11, 2023.
The Bench has also asked the ATS to give a status report as it is presently investigating the murder of Communist Party of India politician, Govind Pansare.
Pansare was shot in February 2015 in Kolhapur. He succumbed to his injuries five days later.
A special investigation team of the Crime Investigation Department of the State Police was investigating the case earlier when in August this year, the case was transferred to the ATS.
Advocate Abhay Nevagi, who appeared family of Pansare has told the Court that the ATS will have to obtain a designated court in Kolhapur to deal with the case.
The trial in the Pansare murder case is yet to begin.