Accused have right to speedy trial, no say in further probe
The court told the accused they were arraiged as accused in the case. As of today, nothing adverse has happened to them
An accused has a right to a speedy trial but has no say in further investigation, observed the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, while hearing a plea by two persons accused of killing CPI leader Govind Pansare.
A division bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and PD Naik said, “After the charge sheet, you have been arraigned as accused. Your right to ask for a speedy trial is different from the right to have a say in further investigation of the case. As of today, nothing adverse has happened to you except that you are facing trial.”
The HC was hearing applications filed by accused Sharad Kalaskar and Vikram Bhave seeking that the HC stop monitoring the probe as the charge sheet has already been filed. They contended that it’s delaying the trial. However, the court was not inclined to hear the plea.
Advocates for the accused said that they are facing difficulties since the trial has been stalled for over seven years because of the orders passed by the HC while monitoring the case.
Rejecting the argument, the court said, “You don’t have a legal right to be heard, at least at this stage. What we are monitoring is further probe towards the two absconding accused.”
On August 3, the HC transferred the investigation into the murder case to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on a plea filed by the late leader’s daughter Smita Pansare. Mr Pansare was shot down by some extremists on Feb 20, 2013.
The ATS submitted a progress report of the investigation on Wednesday. The bench expressed its satisfaction at the steps taken by the ATS team, more specifically to track the absconding accused.
On a court query, senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, appearing for the ATS, said that the process was ongoing and the agency will still require some more time.
The court directed the agency to submit its next report apprising them of the progress of the probe in four weeks and kept the matter for hearing on March 3.