NIA is expected to file a supplementary chargesheet: Sunil Joshi murder case
NEWDELHI: “Sunil Joshi is not a case to be transferred. It is a little more complicated. The NIA have to apply in the court under different Sections of the Act. They will apply to the court,” Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said.
After being cold shouldered by the Madhya Pradesh government for handing over Sunil Joshi murder case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Union Home Ministry has decided to seek the local trial court’s permission by invoking sections of the law related to acts of terrorism.
Cases would be transferred once the Centre gets the views of the state governments concerned. Chidambaram said it is just a matter of time before all the other cases are identified to the NIA.
A supplementary chargesheet is expected to file by the NIA, invoking provisions given in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act that would allow it to take over the case from the Madhya Pradesh Police, Home Ministry sources said.
Swami Assemanad who is currently in jail accused in Smjhauta Express blast named Joshi in his confessional statement as one of the key conspirators in the right-wing extremist network. Joshi was shot dead at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh in December 2007. There was circumstantial evidence to show that Joshi’s case was connected to other terror related cases of Malegaon, Mecca, Dargah Ajmer Sharif and Samjhauta Express, sources added.
The provisions of the Act will negate the Madhya Pradesh government’s contention that there was no terror angle in the murder of Joshi making it obligatory for the court to hand it over to the NIA, sources said.
The NIA is likely to move for this once the remaining cases related to right wing Hindu terrorism are transferred to it by the governments of Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
