Key accused in Govind Pansare murder case dies in Maharashtra's Sangli
Mumbai (PTI): Right-wing activist Sameer Gaikwad, accused of being a "co-conspirator" in the 2015 murder of rationalist and author Govind Pansare, died in Maharashtra's Sangli district in the early hours of Tuesday, officials said.
Gaikwad, 43, an alleged member of Sanatan Sanstha, was arrested in 2015 in the case. He was granted bail in 2017 and had been staying at his residence in Sangli.
He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival early on Tuesday, a police official said without giving more details.
Prima facie, Gaikwad died due to cardiac arrest, but police were waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death, he said.
There is nothing suspicious, the official added.
Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015, in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and succumbed to his injuries a few days later on February 20.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was subsequently formed to investigate Pansare's murder, arrested Gaikwad in the case in September 2015.
In its chargesheet, the SIT had mentioned Gaikwad as a "co-conspirator" and alleged that he, along with other Sanatan Sanstha activists, eliminated Pansare.
The SIT had also conducted raids at Sanatan Sanstha's ashram in Panvel, Navi Mumbai, in connection with the case.
Pansare and his wife were returning home from their morning walk in the Samrat Nagar area of Kolhapur when two motorbike-borne men fired multiple rounds at them before fleeing in 2015.
Initially, the Rajarampuri police station in Kolhapur handled the case.
The investigation was later transferred to the SIT under the supervision of the Additional Director General of Police (CID), Maharashtra.
Dissatisfied with the lack of progress in tracing the shooters, Pansare’s family had sought the case’s transfer to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
On August 3, 2022, the HC transferred the probe to the ATS, observing there was “no headway” or “breakthrough” in the case.
Of the 12 accused identified, nine have so far been arrested, and four supplementary chargesheets have been filed.
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SC agrees to examine if ED can file petition before HCs under Article 226 as juristic person
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine whether the Enforcement Directorate can file a writ petition before high courts under Article 226 of the Constitution for enforcement of its rights as a 'juristic person'.
A juristic person is a non-human legal entity recognised by the law and entitled to rights and duties in the same way as a human being.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the agency on appeals filed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments challenging an order passed by the Kerala High Court which upheld the ED's locus to file writ petitions under Article 226.
Article 226 refers to power of high courts to issue certain writs.
The Kerala High Court, in its order passed on September 26, last year had upheld a single judge order staying the judicial inquiry into the ED probe of the 2020 gold smuggling through diplomatic channel.
The judicial inquiry commission was set up following allegations that ED officials coerced the accused to implicate political leaders, including the CM, in the gold smuggling case.
The high court had dismissed an appeal filed by the Kerala government challenging the single bench's interim stay order.
It had observed that the appeal lacked merit, and the single bench had committed no error in entertaining the ED's petition and staying the inquiry.
The case originated from a May 7, 2021, state govt notification ordering a judicial inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, against ED officials accused of coercing the accused to implicate political leaders.
Former HC judge Justice V K Mohanan was appointed to head the inquiry commission. It was tasked with examining evidence, including an audio clip attributed to accused Swapna Suresh and a letter by accused Sandeep Nair, both alleging coercion by ED officers.
ED deputy director moved HC, questioning the state's authority to order an inquiry against a central investigating agency.
The single bench held that the ED had locus standi (the right to approach the court) and granted an interim stay of the notification on August 11, 2021, prompting the state government to file an appeal.
