Pansare murder trial can’t be put on hold indefinitely: HC

MUMBAI : The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday said the murder trial of former Communist Party of India (CPI) leader – Govind Pansare – cannot be put on hold indefinitely, especially after fresh threats were issued to his family. Pansare was shot dead in Kolhapur in 2015. The division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and Bharati Dangre was worried about the uncertainty shrouding the trial in the Pansare murder case.

“There is uncertainty everywhere, seeing it from any angle, from the perspective of the witnesses and also from the point of view of accused persons,” the bench said.

The bench was hearing petitions filed by family members of Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Pansare, requesting the HC to monitor investigations in both cases. Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune five years ago. The petitioners’ counsel, Abhay Nevagi, said the security cover of the Pansare family members was beefed up. He said reports of a fresh list of ‘targets’ was prepared by the purported killers of liberal thinkers and some names have been published in Kannada newspapers.

The bench said it will not tolerate any further delay in investigations of the two cases. The judges expressed displeasure that while the special investigation team (SIT) has not tracked down those absconding, requests were being made to HC to not allow the trial to proceed.

The bench rejected the prosecution plea for an in-camera hearing of joint director of central bureau of investigation (CBI) special task force and additional chief secretary (Home) .

STATE HAS APPOINTED A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM TO PROBE PANSARE’S MURDER