State files appeal against Sara Sahara acquittals

Mumbai, August 31 (UNI) The state government has filed an appeal against the special MCOCA court verdict acquitting six accused, including fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar, in the Sara Sahara comlex case.

The appeal will come up for hearing next week before a single judge bench of Justice B H Marlapalle.

Special MCOCA judge Mridula Bhatkar, on June 13, had acquitted six accused in the case while convicting three others. Apart from Iqbal Kaskar, the others acquitted include Brihanmumbai employees Narendra Rajbhar, Hasmukh Shah, Kiran Aacharekar, Shirish Salvekar and a conduit Gulam Nabi Ramajan Tanwar. The trial court had acquitted the six for insufficient evidence.

In the appeal, the state government has primarily relied on the confessional statement of Tariq Parveen, which was held as voluntary by the trial court but rejected on the ground of incomplete formalities.

The state has also taken objection to the trial court's rejection of the prosecution claim that illegal construction of the size of Sara Sahara Complex could be done only with the connivance of municipal officials.

UNI