Supreme Court transfers Kamlesh Tiwari's murder case from Lucknow to Prayagraj

The Apex Court on Friday directed the transfer of the trial in the murder case of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari from Lucknow to Prayagraj. Justice SK Paul passed the order acting on a plea filed by prime accused Ashfaq Hussain and his associates soliciting transfer of the case from Lucknow citing 'threat to life'.

Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora along with Advocate Somesh Chandra Jha appeared for the accused and proposed that the matter may be transferred to Prayagraj after the court did not admit to transferring the trial of the case to Delhi. The top court had in 2020 issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking a response in the matter.

Accused fear threat to life, cite communally overloaded atmosphere in state 

The advocates of the accused sought the court's intervention to shift the trial from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi as they feared a threat to life. The accused alleged that a free and fair trial might not be possible because of the communally overloaded atmosphere in the state.

In December, the Lucknow police had filed a chargesheet against 13 persons in connection with the case. The police had informed that the two prime accused Ashfaq and Moinuddin had been charged with murder while 11 others had been booked under other provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including sheltering accused, cheating, dishonesty and criminal conspiracy.

Police file chargesheet against 13 accused

The individuals named in the chargesheet are Ashfaq, Moinuddin, Rashid Pathan, Faizan, Mohsin Sheikh, Sayeed Asif, Mohd Naved, Raees Ahmad, Asif Raza, Kamran, Yusuf Khan, Zafar Sadiq, and Kaifi Ali. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) along with its Gujarat counterpart arrested a person from Kanpur for providing the pistol used in the murder.

According to the chargesheet, the accused planned a conspiracy to murder Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari who had made disrespectful remarks against Prophet Mohammad in 2015.

Tiwari was killed in the Naka area of Lucknow on October 18, 2019, and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital during treatment. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had sanctioned financial help of Rs 15 lakh and a house to the wife of Kamlesh Tiwari.

Tiwari's camp, the Hindu Samaj Party was a little recognised body but he was an active representative of the Hindu Mahasabha earlier.

(With Inputs from PTI)

Image: ANI/PIXABAY