Salian gives consent to be SPP in Mohsin Shaikh murder case

Noted lawyer Rohini Salian has given her consent to be the special public prosecutor in the 2014 Mohsin Shaikh murder case.

Mohsin, an IT professional, was allegedly killed by members of the Hindu Rashtra Sena in Hadapsar area here.

In a letter, addressed to Mohsin's father Sadique Shaikh, Salian gave her consent to represent as the SPP in the case.

Confirming the development, Salian said she was approached by Shaikh's kin to appear in the case and she has now given her consent.

"I have given my consent and I am ready to represent as SPP in the case, subject to government's notification," she told PTI.
 

In June, Mohsin's kin had written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis, seeking appointment of Salian as SPP after well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam withdrew as SPP in the case.

The family had also approached Salian requesting her to appear in the case.

Sadique Shaikh told PTI that they have received a letter from Salian where she has given her consent to represent in the case.

Expressing satisfaction, Sadique said their hopes for justice have been revived.

"We will now be approaching Maharashtra government with the Salian's consent letter and will request them to appoint her as SPP at earliest," Sadique said.

The Maharashtra government cancelled appointment of Nikam as prosecutor in the case on his request.

A notification by Maharashtra's Law and Judiciary Department said it had withdrawn its order appointing Nikam as SPP, on his request, in the case pending before a Pune court.

In 2016, Salian had withdrawn from 2008 Malegaon blast case alleging that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had asked her to "go soft on the accused" in the case.

Shaikh (28) was attacked and killed on June 2, 2014 allegedly by Hindu Rashtra Sena members.

Around 20 people, including HRS chief Dhananjay Desai, were arrested in connection with the case.

The Bombay High Court granted bail to three accused -- Vijay Gambhire, Ganesh Yadav and Ajay Lalge -- on January 17 while observing that the trio seemed to be provoked in the name of religion.

Police had suspected that the incident was a fallout of violent protests in Pune over derogatory pictures of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji and the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on a social networking site.