03-06-2025
New Year's Eve murder case: SPP says he has not been paid dues
Special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat Tuesday informed a court here, before which the trial in the New Year's Eve murder case of a 19-year-old is ongoing, that he has not been paid his dues.
Gharat told the court during a hearing in the case that he has been appointed as the special public prosecutor (SPP) since 2021 but has not been paid even for a single hearing so far.
He told the court that he had written thrice to the Khar Police senior inspector, and sent the officer messages about his dues but did not get any response.
The court has directed that the pursis filed by Gharat informing it about the non-payment be forwarded to the Khar Police.
Gharat informed the court that he has given the authorities 'sufficient time' to respond and if they fail to do so by the next hearing on June 16, he has no option but to step down from the case.
On the intervening night of December 31, 2020 and January 1, 2021, Jhanvi Kukreja, a 19-year-old Khar resident, was allegedly murdered after a scuffle. The police arrested Kukreja's childhood friend, 19-year-old Diya Padalkar and 22-year-old Shree Jogdhankar, on charges of murder. Gharat was appointed as the SPP in 2021 and the trial in the case has been underway since 2023.
On Tuesday, Gharat examined the 41st witness in the case.
Following the examination, he informed the court that while he had conducted the trial which is almost at its fag end now with 3-4 witnesses remaining, he has not been paid his pending dues.
Gharat told the court that if he does not receive any response, he will not be able to attend the next hearing.
Gharat, who was the SPP in the Telgi scam, and is representing the CBI in the cases against gangster Chhota Rajan, including the murder of journalist J Dey where Rajan and others were sentenced to life imprisonment, was replaced earlier this year from case of the abetment of suicide of Dr Payal Tadvi.
On March 7, the law and judiciary department issued the notification to cancel the appointment of Gharat with immediate effect and appointed another lawyer as the SPP.
Appointed in many cases during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Gharat was also asked to step down in some cases of a political nature like the sedition case against former MP Navneet Rana.
