Deported gangster Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan’s lawyer on Thursday made an application before the special court situated inside high security Arthur Road jail requesting that CBI should take Rajan into custody in all the cases in which non-bailable warrants against him have been issued. The court was also informed that the CBI has taken voice sample of Rajan.
In the meantime, the problem of non-availability of CBI lawyer for Rajan’s case was still not solved; the lawyer present in the court on behalf of CBI informed the court notification for appointment of special public prosecutor for cases against Rajan would come by next week. Following this, special judge Sameer Adkar asked him to ensure the notification comes by next hearing.
Special judge Adkar also asked the investigating officer of the case to bifurcate cases which are triable by metropolitan magistrate court and detach them so that they there is clarity as to how many cases are there against Rajan which would be tried by the special court. The judge clarified that this court is constituted to conduct trial in all the cases registered against Rajan and all the cases registered against him under IPC, TADA, POTA and MCOCA would be tried in this court.
Rajan’s lawyers Anshuman Sinha and Avinash Kamkhedkar also requested the court to direct CBI to specify which cases it wants to pursue. Speaking to The Asian Age, Mr Kamkhedkar said there are around 71 cases registered against Rajan in Maharashtra and many of them were registered in the 1980s and in some cases all the accused except Rajan have been acquitted, so there is no point in conducting trail against his client in such cases. Explaining their application requesting the investigating agency to take Rajan’s custody, he said Rajan is available and non-bailable warrants have already been issued against him so it is the best time for CBI to take him into custody if it wants to.
The judge also directed the CBI to file progress report on the J. Dey murder case on March 14, the next date of hearing. Though the CBI had requested the court to grant it some more time because they are facing several problems including unavailability of infrastructure to conduct investigation, the judge said the court would grant more time if officers first showed some progress in investigation.
