Supreme Court issues notice to CBI in murder case

Mumbai: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation in the murder case of Pawan Raje Nimbalkar and asked the agency to clear its stand on the plea by his widow Anandi Devi Nimbalkar.

Anandi Devi had moved the apex court after the Bombay high court rejected her application seeking to call social activist Anna Hazare as a prosecution witness in the trial of her husband’s murder.

According to the petitioner, Mr Hazare was an important witness as he was aware of the conspiracy allegedly hatched by the prime accused and NCP leader and then-minister Padmas-ingh Patil to kill Nimbalkar. The application alleged that Patil had also conspired to kill Mr Hazare.

On October 22, Justice Mridula Bhatkar had refused Anandi Devi’s application, saying no substantial material has been found to show that Mr Hazare’s evidence would be useful to the case. Mr Hazare’s evidence was only hearsay and that it was not direct evidence of the alleged conspiracy, the court observed.

Meanwhile, a division bench of Justice Sharad Bobade and Justice Nageshwar Rao has admitted her application for hearing and put an interim stay on the trial until a decision is made. Nimbalkar was murdered in 2006, allegedly due to a political rivalry.