MUMBAI: Coming down heavily on the state CID for the delay in the 2003 Khwaja Yunus custodial death case trial, the sessions court on Friday said that it would be a mockery of justice that no heed has been given to its directions since 2014.
“That despite repeated notices and letters to the investigating agency, no action has been taken to pursue the part-heard case in which four police officers are accused,” the court said. Dismissed API Sachin Waze is one of the accused.
The trial has been stalled si-nce 2018 after special public prosecutor (SPP) Dhiraj Mirajkar was abruptly removed; no appointment has been made since. “Why is there no progress rep-ort in this case...when there are in others [cases]. This is suspicious,” judge U J More said.
A software engineer, Yunus was arrested in the 2002 Ghatkopar BEST bus blast case. Waze and his team had claimed that Yunus had escaped, but in 2017, an acquitted co-accused, a doctor who teaches forensics in a medical college, told the court he had seen Yunus being brutally assaulted in custody and vomiting blood on January 6, 2003.
During Friday’s hearing, Taloja jail officials said Waze could not attend the virtual hearing as he had gone before the judicial commission for another hearing. The NIA had arrested Waze in March in the Ambani bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case. Turning down the defence request to produce Waze in person for now, the court said he should be produced via videoconferencing without fail on the next date.
State CID superintendent of police Maruti Jagtap, who was summoned to court, submitted that despite efforts made in 2018 and 2021, there was no commun-ication from the state governm-ent in response to the correspo-ndence sent for SPP appointme-nt. “Are these concrete steps? You should pursue…” the judge shot back. “I have perused the roznama for 4 hours and found that no steps have been taken.”
The court pointed out that earlier two SPPs had been appointed and both had resigned. It added that it was also a serious issue that despite repeated directions to produce the station diary, no heed was paid. “Why is the case stuck when there is no stay order from the Supreme Court or Bombay high court,” the judge asked. The court also lamented that since the case was pending for a decade, witne-sses’ memory may be affected.
The chief public prosecutor, who was summoned, said the case was also delayed due the lockdown and the state CID is now pursuing the matter. “What are they pursuing? At least some officer should come...Nobody turns up. Isn’t that suspicious,” the court said.
The prosecution and Jagtap assured the court that a senior CID officer will attend court on every date. A month’s time was sought to pursue the matter regarding the SPP appointment. The court said summons should be issued to Yunus’s mother Ashiya Begum to understand the nature of her petition in the SC and HC.
The accused—Waze and constables Rajendra Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai—who were suspended in 2004 were reinstated last year.
