The notification said that the special counsel will be conducting the matter before the Supreme Court “on behalf of the State of Maharashtra and its officers”. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
IN THE case regarding the alleged custodial death of Khwaja Yunus, the sessions court was informed on Tuesday that the same special counsel representing the state government in an appeal before the Supreme Court in the case was appearing on behalf of the four policemen the prosecution sought to make accused. Special public prosecutor Dhiraj Mirajkar had filed an application last month seeking to make four policemen stand trial as accused in the case after a prosecution witness named them during his deposition. The men have approached the court objecting to the plea.
On Tuesday, the advocate for the four policemen, Subhash Jha, informed the court that a notification issued by the Law and Judiciary Department of the Maharashtra government on March 23, 2015, had notified the appointment of a special counsel for conducting the matter before the Supreme Court. The appeal filed by Yunus’ mother Asiya Sayed Khwaja against the state government’s refusal for sanction to prosecute 10 policemen, including the four named recently by the prosecution, is pending before the apex court. The notification said that the special counsel will be conducting the matter before the Supreme Court “on behalf of the State of Maharashtra and its officers”.
Referring to this notification, Jha submitted that while this was the status in the SC hearing, the prosecution in the trial court had sought that the four policemen be made accused in the case. “The application filed by the prosecution, therefore, has some difficulty,” Jha told the court. The court asked the prosecution to submit detailed information on whether the state government has filed an affidavit making its stand clear on the appeal pending in the SC.
In the High Court, the state had said that sanction could not be granted to prosecute the policemen, who Yunus’ mother said were also involved, along with the four already standing trial, in causing the death of her son. Yunus was arrested as an accused in the Ghatkopar 2002 blast case. He was allegedly killed while in police custody.
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