Bombay High Court rejetcs plea seeking direction to lower court to examine Anna Hazare

The application stated that Hazare was an important witness in the case, as he knew about the conspiracy allegedly hatched by former state minister Padamsinh Patil to kill Nimbalkar. It further claimed that Patil had also conspired to kill Hazare.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar rejected the application. “The court held that Hazare’s statement is not relevant as it does not pertain to the incident in question. The high court held that trial court was right in holding that he is not required to be examined,” said CBI counsel Hiten Venegaonkar.

Earlier, an application was filed by the CBI, before the trial court, seeking examination of Hazare, to prove the motive behind the crime. The trial court, however, rejected the application stating that the prosecution may skip Hazare’s examination.

Venegaonkar had argued before the high court that Hazare is an important witness because he had specifically spoken about the motive and conspiracy to eliminate Nimbalkar and thereafter, him. He had submitted that according to the chargesheet, only because Hazare and Nimbalkar were trying to uncover Patil’s corrupt deeds, the conspiracy to kill them was hatched.