This is an archive article published on July 9, 2015
Conduct Abu Jundal trial through video, threat to his life: NIA to Delhi court
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has requested a Delhi court to conduct the trial against suspected LeT operative Abu Jundal through video-conferencing as the Maharashtra government apprehends that he could be killed or abducted by rivals during his transit from jail to the Delhi court. The NIA moved an application before District Judge Amar Nath, stating […]
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has requested a Delhi court to conduct the trial against suspected LeT operative Abu Jundal through video-conferencing as the Maharashtra government apprehends that he could be killed or abducted by rivals during his transit from jail to the Delhi court.
The NIA moved an application before District Judge Amar Nath, stating that Jundal alias Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, who is currently lodged in Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, could not be produced before the Delhi court on several occasions despite issuance of production warrant against him and that the trial should be expedited through video conferencing. The court has now issued a notice to Jundal’s counsel M S Khan on NIA’s plea.
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Referring to a resolution passed by Maharashtra government in May 2013, the NIA said it “exclude the personal appearance of the accused Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari… after taking into consideration request of Mumbai Police Commissioner to exclude the above-mentioned accused person from personal appearance before court in various cases registered against him due to possibility of assassination bid on his life by rival group or a bid to kidnap”. It added that the resolution was challenged before Bombay High Court, which was dismissed.
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The Delhi court is scheduled to hear arguments on charges in the case in which NIA has chargesheeted Jundal for allegedly attempting to recruit men for Lashkar-e-Toiba, and conspiring to carry out terror activities in India.
Meanwhile, Mehmood Pracha, Jundal’s lawyer in 26/11 Mumbai attack trial, told The Indian Express that the Maharashtra Police does not want him to be accessed by anyone outside because they fear that he will spill the beans on them. This is why they have kept him in solitary confinement. “They are trying to mislead the court by creating this false story of threat…,” he said.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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Abu Jundal
