HC asks lower court to expedite Diwani murder case trial

Mumbai, Sep 19 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today directed the trial court to expedite the proceedings of the murder case of Manisha Koirala's secretary Ajit Diwani, and conclude it by September 30 next year.

On August 28, Justice S C Dharmadhikari had pulled up a designated court for not conducting the trial in time as ordered.

The trial was supposed to conclude by June 30. The MCOCA court judge, Abhay Thipse, submitted an affidavit explaining that the delay had occurred as he was busy conducting the Best Bakery case trial which is now over.

Judge Thipse further submitted that two of the accused in the Diwani murder case were sent to Varanasi for trials in another case there and have not returned yet.

Extradited gangster Abu Salem, who is also an accused in the case, was arrested only last year and a supplementary chargesheet had to be filed. Also, an arrest in relation with this murder was made on September 4 and the interrogation of the accused is still going on, Judge Thipsay said while seeking more time for conducting the trial.

The High Court was hearing the bail plea moved by Nizamuddin Khan, an accused in the murder case, today. Khan was arrested in July 2001 and has been languishing in jail without being tried. He had moved two bail applications in the High Court and both were rejected with a direction to the trial court to expedite the proceedings within a stipulated period.

The defence counsel told the court that no progress has been made in the Diwani murder trial since 2003. Only three witnesses had been examined by the trial court.

The High Court, meanwhile, rejected Khan's bail plea while observing that an accused under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act could be granted bail only under special circumstances and nothing of that sort existed in this case.

UNI ARM MAZ MSJ VC2044