BOMBAY, 20 August 2006 — In a significant development, Ravi Kadam, the advocate general of Maharashtra, has given his consent for criminal proceedings against Raj Thackeray, the chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on the grounds of “threatening” lawyers not to defend the Muslims arrested in the July train blasts.
Kadam in his three page consent letter had stated that assuming that Raj Thackeray has made these statements, a prima facie case of criminal contempt had been made out and that any act which intimidates lawyers from appearing for a client prejudices a fair trial, he said.
The grant of consent followed a contempt petition filed in the Bombay High Court against Raj by Indian Association of People’s Lawyers and Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, for which the consent of Kadam was required to go ahead.
The lawyers in their petition had cited press reports of Thackeray’s rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar, held to pay homage to the blast victims, in which Thackeray is alleged to have threatened lawyers planning to defend the alleged accused in the train blasts. The lawyers in their letter to Kadam had stated that the statements of Thackeray tended to lower the authority of justice and interfere with the judicial process.
Maharukh Adenwalla, a prominent lawyer said that defending any client is the right of a lawyer and the threats issued violate the lawyer’s right to profession as enshrined in the Indian Constitution, he said.
Unmoved by the alleged threats of Thackeray, a Delhi lawyer Shakeel Ahmed has dared to defend Kamal Ansari and Mumtaz Chaudhary, the two alleged blasts accused arrested from Bihar and New Bombay on July 21. Ahmed filed the papers to represent the two accused in the Sessions Court yesterday and he will also file papers to defend Khaled Shaikh, also from Bihar, the third accused in the Court on August 30.
Asked if he did not fear to the warning by Raj Thackeray, Ahmed said “We are professional and not bothered by any threats or statements issued by a political party. It is our duty to defend innocent people implicated by the police, and we shall do it by all means” he added
In another development, Bombay police commissioner Anami Roy announced the formation of a special team comprising a police inspector form each of the 13 zones in Bombay to investigate the July train blasts. The selected 13 police officials would not be burdened with any other routine work but concentrate and devote their time and energy only on the blast investigation. The team would report to the additional commissioner of police of the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), and has been set up to assist the ATS, due to shortage of officials in the ATS, a police official said.
Meanwhile a division bench of Justice J.N. Patel and Roshan Dalvi rapped the city police commissioner AN Roy for showing complete disregard to the court order wherein it had quashed a FIR and approval under Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) against gangster turned legislator Arun Gawli and three others.
Expressing unhappiness and displeasure, the two judges said that the court had taken the matter very seriously and directed the Advocate General Ravi Kadam convey this to Roy. An angry Justice Patel even went on to comment that the police commissioner was expected to maintain some discipline when holding a big post. “Court orders were not to be taken for granted or ignored” Justice Patel said.
