A special court in a recent order allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file additional evidence in the Gadchiroli security personnel attack case, collected during its probe in the Elgaar Parishad case. The NIA had made an application before the special court stating that some evidence, including statements of protected witnesses, were required to be brought on record as evidence in the case against the accused in the Gadchiroli attack case as it has a bearing on it. The defence counsel had said the procedure adopted by the NIA to bring on record the case was not proper and it should not be allowed. However, Special Judge Rajesh Katariya said the NIA plea was partly allowed and the prosecution was permitted to produce the documents on record. On May 1, 2019, 15 security personnel and one civilian were killed in Gadchiroli. It is alleged that the conspiracy for the attack was hatched by members of the banned CPI(Maoist). The NIA has said statements recorded in the Elgaar Parishad case refer to Sathyanarayana Rani, an accused in the Gadchiroli case and hence are required to be brought on record. “It is submitted that the prosecution is required to bring the said evidence in the present case which has proof and relevance in respect of the present case, as such it is just and necessary to bring the same on record in support of prosecution evidence,” the NIA plea before the special court said. Lawyer Shifa Khan, representing Rani, submitted before the court that there was an objection not to the documents but the manner in which the NIA sought to bring them on record. Khan further said the evidence was not part of the chargesheet or supplementary chargesheet in the case and cannot be allowed through an application at a belated stage.
