A court rejected Vijay Palande's plea against Ujjwal Nikam's reinstatement as prosecutor in his murder case, citing potential bias and political motives.
MUMBAI: A sessions court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by Vijay Palande, an accused in multiple murder cases, challenging the reinstatement of advocate Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor in one of the cases against him.
Nikam had resigned from the case after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) picked him as a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year; he was reinstated in June after losing the polls.
Palande challenged his reinstatement, saying Nikam was prejudiced about the case and had mala fide intentions. His plea alleged that Nikam was the right-hand man of BJP leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and was appointed to serve the party’s political agenda.
The plea also said that Nikam “may go to any extent for getting false convictions” in high-profile cases, which is against the fundamental rights of the accused and compromises the fairness of the judicial process.
Palande requested the court to appoint a new public prosecutor and initiate a suo-motu (its own) inquiry against Nikam’s appointment. Palande, who is currently lodged in Arthur Road jail, was arrested in April 2012 for murdering Delhi businessman Arun Tikku and film producer Karankumar Kakkad. He had challenged Nikam’s reinstatement in the Tikku murder case.
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