Court tells ATS to make appointment by Jan 11

New deadline for appointment of special public prosecutor

Court tells ATS to make appointment by Jan 11

The new deadline for the state Anti-Terrorism Squad to appoint a special public prosecutor (SPP) is January 11.
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The court of Special Judge Usha Thakre may visit the German Bakery blast site after that.

The special court also reserved its order on the application of the defence counsel about disclosing the names of witnesses in the chargesheet submitted by the ATS. Once an SPP is appointed, the court will ask for the SPP's say on it and then deliver its order.

Will court visit site?
Senior Lawyer Abdul Rehman moved an application under Section 310 of the CrPC requesting the court to inspect the German Bakery site. Advocate Kainat Shaikh, assisting Rahman in the case, said, "We requested the judge to visit and inspect the German Bakery and the Central Mall, where the accused are believed to have fled after the blast, for better appreciation of the evidence." The judge called the application premature and said, "It may be considered at a proper time as there is no SPP and the charges against the accused are yet to be framed."

Witness identity
Rahman also moved an application on behalf of accused Himayat Baig (30), who was also present in court. He requested the court to direct the prosecution to discloseu00a0 the names and addresses of the witnesses two weeks before their examination. Rahman said, "In the chargesheet, some of the statements are blank as no names of witnesses have been mentioned. It is very difficult to gather information and cross-examine those witnesses whose names are not given."

During the previous hearing on December 16, the court had ordered the ATS to appoint an SPP before December 29. Then, Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinod Satav of ATS filed an application on behalf of the state government requesting more time for the appointment of an SPP.