Nagpur: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has moved the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Friday to transfer cases of Jayesh Pujari alias Kantha and his associate Pasha Asfar Bashiruddin Noor Mohammad to its special court in Mumbai.
The NIA moved the High Court seeking transfer of the court proceedings of the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari threat phone call case to the NIA’s Mumbai court. Earlier, the District and Additional Sessions (NIA) Judge J P Zapate had rejected NIA’s application on July 18 and had ruled that while the NIA will take over the investigation of the case, the court proceedings will continue to be held in the Nagpur NIA court. The case was heard before the division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menzes on Friday. After hearing the plea of NIA, the court issued notices to respondents.
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It may be mentioned here that the NIA court had rejected the application filed by the NIA to transfer the court proceedings of the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari threat phone call case to the NIA’s Mumbai court. The case revolves around alleged threats made to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari via phone calls, and it was initially registered by the Dhantoli police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The NIA had subsequently filed two separate FIRs in Mumbai based on the FIRs lodged by the Dhantoli police.
In response, the NIA sought to transfer the UAPA cases registered at the Dhantoli police station to the NIA court in Mumbai. The Nagpur police had already provided a “No Objection” certificate for the NIA’s demand. However, the Special NIA court in Nagpur had declined the application, opting to retain the jurisdiction for conducting the trial.
Media reports had indicated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued a notification directing the NIA to take over the investigation of the case. However, the notification does not specify that the trial must be conducted in the Mumbai court, leaving it open for the Special NIA court in Nagpur to oversee the proceedings.
It is noteworthy that the NIA Mumbai court operates under Section 11 of the NIA Act, while the Special NIA courts in the rest of the state function under Section 22 of the same Act. Jayesh Pujari alias Kantha had made the threat calls to Gadkari’s office after colluding and planning with Bengaluru terror attack case convict Afsar Pasha.
It may be mentioned here that Pujari had made a threat call to Gadkari’s public relations office on January 14, demanding Rs 100 crore and claiming to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. At that time, he was lodged in the Belgavai jail. He made another call on March 21, threatening to harm Gadkari if Rs 10 crore were not paid to him. Pujari was arrested and brought to Nagpur on March 28 this year from a jail in Belagavi, while Afsar Pasha was brought to Nagpur later.
