Advocate Pradeep Gharat, who is the special public prosecutor in the Ashwini Gore-Bidre murder case, has asked the Navi Mumbai police and the state home department to hire another lawyer if they cannot pay his outstanding dues of Rs 20 lakh. The senior counsel said he has not been paid for his services over the past two-and-a-half years, and a cheque of Rs 9.60 lakh issued to him bounced on March 31, 2022.

This is not the first time that Advocate Gharat had to raise the issue of non-payment of fees in the case. In October 2020, the state government cleared his bills after mid-day reported that he had not been paid for 17 months, a matter he had taken up with the Navi Mumbai police, too.