Mumbai: A sessions court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by gangster Vijay Palande, an accused in multiple murder cases, challenging the reinstatement of advocate Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor in one of the cases against him after latter lost Lok Sabha elections.
Palande had claimed that Nikam being a political candidate may not be fair and his fresh appointment is with ‘malafide intention’
Nikam contested the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from Mumbai North Central but lost to Congress' Varsha Gaikwad. Prior to the elections, he had resigned from his position as a special public prosecutor in 22 cases. However, following the elections, Nikam is being reinstated as the special public prosecutor in all of these cases.
In a plea filed in June, Palande argued, “Nikam will now act to further the BJP's agenda and, in an attempt to build a public image, may go to any extent to secure false convictions in high-profile cases, which would serve to enhance the BJP's image. This would violate the fundamental rights of the accused and against the exception of fairness.”
“The fresh appointment of Nikam by the BJP-led government in the state is driven by extraneous considerations and made with malafide intent. The aim is to promote Nikam and use him for political campaigning, while also providing him with hefty remunerations and benefits in name of legal fees. This amounts to favoritism and is illegal,” he claimed.
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Palande was arrested in April 2012 for murdering Delhi businessman Arun Tikku and film producer Karankumar Kakkad. He had earlier jumped parole after being convicted of another double murder and sentenced to life. Palande was also accused of a third murder of an unidentified victim after the police recovered a skull and bones.
Nikam was appointed as special public prosecutor only in the murder case of Tikku and Kakkad.