A sessions court on Monday rejected the plea of prosecution in Gulshan Kumar murder case for treating the approver as an accused and not as a witness in view of his hostile attitude.
Judge M L Tahilyani, in his order, noted that at this stage he was not accepting the certificate issued by the special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam withdrawing the pardon granted to the approver Mohammed Ali Shaikh. He advised the prosecution to file it at appropriate time. The court opined that it was up to the prosecution to examine the approver Mohammed Ali Shaikh or declare him hostile and then cross-examine him.
"But the defence lawyers have a right to cross-examine the approver and this right could not be taken away", the judge held.
The judge has now ordered the approver to enter the box on August 16 for examination by the prosecution or cross examination by the defence lawyers. On August 8, the prosecution had withdrawn the pardon granted to the approver after he feigned ignorance about the conspiracy leading to the killing of audio king.
Soon after declaring him as hostile witness, prosecutor Nikam issued a certificate declaring withdrawal of pardon granted to Shaikh on the ground that he had wilfully concealed vital evidence pertaining to the case.
He urged the court to treat the approver as an accused.
Bureau Report