The Best Bakery retrial comes up for hearing tomorrow with the stalemate between Gujarat and Maharashtra over appointing a public prosecutor unresolved.Now, the NGO representing main witness Zaheera Sheikh has approached the Supreme Court for a clarification as to who will prosecute the accused for the killing of 14 minority community members during the riots in Vadodara.Teesta Setalvad, convenor of Citizens for Justice and Peace which is providing legal support to Zaheera, said they ‘‘have approached the SC for clear instructions as to who is the prosecuting agency’’.The Gujarat government had on June 21 informed the sessions court in Mumbai that it had appointed Atul Mehta and T.S. Nanavati as public prosecutors and that the state was also considering appointing Manjula Rao as a special public prosecutor as she was the choice of the NGO.The Maharashtra government, too, had announced a set of prosecutors, including P.R. Vakil, Manjula Rao, Zaheeruddin Shaikh and S.M. Vora. The special court of A.P. Thipsay had then held that Gujarat was still the prosecuting agency and had the right to appoint the prosecutor. But the court asked both parties to arrive at a consensus by July 5, failing which they could approach the Supreme Court.Counsel for Gujarat T.S. Nanavati confirmed there has been no discussions so far on the issue. ‘‘We have no knowledge of what is happening since we have not been contacted by anyone. In such a scenario, where we have not been intimated otherwise, we are still the prosecution and will be appearing in court on Monday,’’ he told Express.If the impasse continues and the matter is referred to the apex court on Monday, the trial will be adjourned till July 19.
