Defense Challenges Invocation of UAPA in Narendra Dabholkar Murder Case

The defense told a special court on Saturday that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was not properly invoked in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case.

Defense attorney Virendra Ichalkarnjikar informed Additional Sessions Judge P P Jadhav during the 2013 murder case's closing arguments that the CBI had relied on an accused shooter's extrajudicial confession, taped in Karnataka, regarding shooting Dabholkar to death.

"He (the accused) should have been produced before the magistrate, but the police knew that if he is produced before the magistrate, they will be exposed," he said.

Ichalkaranjikar also said that the Karnataka-based IPS officer who had recorded the aforementioned confession was not called as a witness by the prosecution.

"An improper protocol was followed when authorizing the use of UAPA in this particular situation. Although a deputy secretary's approval was obtained, the legislation required that a secretary provide the penalty," he stated.

On August 20, 2013, while taking a morning stroll on Pune's Omkareshwar Bridge, Narendra Dabholkar was shot and killed.

The prosecution claimed in the case's closing arguments that the plot to kill Dabholkar was instigated by those who opposed his fight against superstition.

In 2014, the Bombay High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation. In June 2016, the CBI arrested Dr. Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon who was associated with Sanatan Sanstha. He was one of the crime's masterminds, according to the CBI.

Along with the suspected shooters, Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, the agency also detained Vikram Bhave and Sanjeev Punalekar, who were co-conspirators.

Punalekar and Bhave are out on bond, while Tawde, Andure, and Kalaskar remain incarcerated.