Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A special court in Mumbai has rejected, for the second time, the bail plea of Maulana Mushifique Ahmad, an accused in the 2022 murder of Amravati chemist Umesh Kolhe, observing that the accused’s “crocodile tears” over the delay in trial amounted to a mockery of the judicial process.
In its order on Thursday, Special Judge CS Baviskar said the accused themselves were responsible for prolonging the trial by repeatedly filing bail and discharge applications and challenging the trial court’s decisions before the Bombay High Court.
advertisement
“The crocodile tears of the accused for speedy trial are nothing but a mockery,” the court observed, adding that while the accused had not suffered because of the delay, society and the victim’s family had been deprived of a timely verdict.
Ahmad’s earlier bail application was rejected in 2023. He subsequently approached the Bombay High Court but withdrew his plea with liberty to raise his contentions again before the trial court.
WHY THE ACCUSED SOUGHT BAIL
Advocate Payoshi Roy, appearing for Ahmad, argued that he had no criminal antecedents and that the call records cited by the prosecution did not establish his involvement in a conspiracy to murder Kolhe.
Roy pointed out that Ahmad and a co-accused had exchanged eight phone calls and one SMS, arguing that the duration of the calls did not suggest that they had discussed a conspiracy to kill the chemist. The defence also raised other grounds in support of the bail plea.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which investigated the case, opposed the application, alleging that Ahmad had created a WhatsApp group named “Meeting Only” in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding remarks by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
According to the NIA, Ahmad and another accused had appealed to others to take coercive action against Sharma and her supporters. The agency has alleged that Ahmad was the main conspirator who supervised the events surrounding the murder, sought information from co-accused before and after the killing, and provided shelter and funds to the assailants to help them evade arrest.
After examining the material placed before it, the court found a prima facie indication of Ahmad’s involvement in the alleged terror act.
COURT BLAMES ACCUSED FOR DELAY IN TRIAL
Responding to the defence’s argument that Ahmad had a right to a speedy trial, the court acknowledged that charges had not yet been framed despite the filing of the chargesheet.
“Certainly, he has the right to speedy trial,” the judge said, noting that the defence was correct in pointing out that charges had not been framed.
However, the court held that the accused were themselves responsible for the delay.
“One after another, one after another, one after another, accused in this case went on filing bail applications and discharge applications,” the court said, adding that the accused repeatedly approached the High Court after receiving orders from the trial court.
It said neither the prosecution nor the court was responsible for the trial’s failure to progress speedily.
The court also noted that the chargesheet had been filed against all the accused on the same day and that the case materials had been supplied to them simultaneously. Given that several accused shared defence lawyers or associates, the court questioned why their bail applications had not been filed together or within a short period.
It concluded that the repeated applications appeared intended to prolong the proceedings and create grounds for claiming prolonged incarceration.
“The only reason behind this could be that, the accused themselves wanted to protract the trial unnecessarily and create ground for so-called long incarceration and cunningly raise hue and cry of right to speedy trial,” the court observed.
The judge added that, considering the number of accused and their approach to the proceedings, the trial had naturally been prolonged and that it could otherwise have concluded by now.
THE UMESH KOLHE MURDER CASE
Umesh Kolhe, a 54-year-old chemist in Maharashtra’s Amravati, was murdered on June 21, 2022. The NIA investigated the case, in which the accused allegedly targeted him over a social media post supporting Nupur Sharma.
Sharma had made controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad during a television debate on May 27, 2022, triggering widespread outrage, protests and complaints. The controversy also drew strong criticism from the Supreme Court.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
