Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who has made headlines more than once, will now be arguing what will be perhaps one of the biggest terror cases in India ever. At the Nagpur winter session of the Vidhan Sabha, Home Minister Jayant Patil declared that a special court would be constituted to hear the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, for which the special prosecutor will be Nikam. Nikam, who has handled several sensitive cases for the state government in the past two decades and with a conviction rate as high as 80 per cent, has been provided with Z-plus security for over a decade now. While Nikam is tightlipped, lawyers and police who have worked with him closely see him as a man with great wit and sense of humour. “His competency was well reflected in the manner he handled the Khairlanji murder case. He is very well read and has an oratory skill which a lawyer demands,” says Ejaz Khan, prosecutor for CBI who worked with Nikam on the Khairlanji case. The court at Bhandara, Vidharbha had awarded death sentence to six accused, and sent two others to life imprisonment. “He is unbeatable with his sense of humour and sarcasm. He uses these styles even when arguing in the court,” said Khan. As many as 613 cases he has argued ended in life sentences, 33 in death.Former Assistant Commissioner of Police Suresh Wallishetty, who had arrested Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt for his alleged involvement in the 1993 serial bomb blasts and also the accused in the twin blast at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar of 2003, the two cases in which Ujjwal Nikam is the special Public Prosecutor, says “I am happy that Nikam has been appointed to appear for the state in the Mumbai terror attack against Mohammed Ajmal Kasab. Nikam who has a vast knowledge of all terror laws and the Indian Penal Code will be able to give justice to the victims of the terror attack because of his past experience in terror related case. His abilities to assist the court and present the facts before the court in important and sensitive case like this one, is so good that it helps the judge to understand the case in a better way,” he said.Defence lawyer Farhana Shah, who has appeared in the 1993 serial bomb blast case for many accused where Ujjwal Nikam was a special public prosecutor, said “He is a good choice made by the state. Nikam has appeared in so many important cases and the past track record of getting good results (convictions) for the state, with the vast experience and thorough knowledge of law he was an apt choice for being selected in this case also, she said.Nikam also headed the prosecution team in the Pramod Mahajan murder case and the accused, Pravin Mahajan was given a life sentence.
