Trial in JJ shoot-out case to begin next week

MUMBAI, Dec 4: The actual trial in the JJ Hospital shoot-out case is set to begin next week, the judge having completed all preliminary inv...

MUMBAI, Dec 4: The actual trial in the JJ Hospital shoot-out case is set to begin next week, the judge having completed all preliminary investigations related to the case. Court sources said the trial will be a daunting task and will go on for at least six months.

The prosecution has expressed concern over the absence of a sizeable number of accused in the case. The main conspirator, Dawood Ibrahim, is yet to be arrested, and the man who executed the shoot-out, Sunil Sawant, was shot dead in Dubai in March 1995 by the Chhota Rajan gang.

However, the case has taken an interesting turn with both the prosecution and defence having decided to approach the Supreme Court challenging the charge and discharge orders given by the designated TADA court judge P K Chavare.

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Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian said if any side is aggrieved, it can always challenge an order in the apex court. The judge has discharged eight persons accused in the case so far. “The discharge orders won’t dilute the case,” she said.

According to her, the accused were wrongly discharged in some cases. “I feel the order discharging the three city-based doctors can be challenged. They are important for the case, as they can also be used as witnesses. That is the reason we decided to approach the apex court,” Salian said.

“We have no objections to the discharge of Baba Gabriel and Bacchi Pandey, as we couldn’t find any evidence against them,” she added. Baba Gabriel and Bacchi Pandey were arrested in 1996, and their names had also been mentioned in the chargesheet.

The defence counsels have also decided to move the Supreme Court against the charge orders given by the judge. Court sources said all this will only delay the trial further. Though the incident happened on September 12, 1992, the actual trial has not yet begun.

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As the case stands now, eight people, Iqbal Ismail Parkar, Ibrahim Ali Antulay, Dr B K Bansal, Dr Mohananna Gedam, Dr Sheikh Abdul Hameed, Roshanlal Anand, Baba Gabriel and Bacchi Pandey have been discharged. So far, police have filed charges against Mohammed Kasamali, Jahur Ismail Faki, Jayant Suryarao, Mehaboobi Azizkhan, Dr Shivprakash Kamble, Dr Aken Kumar Desai, Pappu Kalani, Anil Amarnath Sharma, Anil Nirbhag Sharma, Subhash Singh Thakur, Sham Kishore Garikapatti, Ahmad Yasin Mansoori, Manish Lala, Bacchi Singh and Prasad Khade.

Most of the accused are absconding since the case began. They are Dawood Ibrahim, Rahim Faki, Mohammad Hussainali, Nasir Faki, Nasir Jariwala, Farooq Manssori, Ahmadlai Antulay, Virendra Rai, Shrikant Rai, Vijay, Brijesh Singh, Pappu Singh Dabloo, Pappu Singh and Nirmal. Besides Sunil Sawant, Shantilal Patel and Ramesh Patel (two other accused) were shot dead in police encounters at Santacruz when they were out on bail.