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Umesh Pal Murder Case: Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Atiq Ahmad's Plea For Protection; Says State Machinery Will Protect Him
Awstika Das
28 March 2023 1:00 PM IST
"The State machinery will take care of you", the bench orally observed.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined relief to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad who raised the apprehension that he would be gunned down by the Uttar Pradesh police in a fake encounter. The former Lok Sabha member is the prime accused in the sensational murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness to a Bahujan Samaj Party legislator’s murder in 2005. A division bench of Justices...
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined relief to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad who raised the apprehension that he would be gunned down by the Uttar Pradesh police in a fake encounter. The former Lok Sabha member is the prime accused in the sensational murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness to a Bahujan Samaj Party legislator’s murder in 2005.
A division bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi advised the petitioner to approach the high court. Ahmad was shifted to Naini central jail in Prayagraj from Sabarmati central jail in Gujarat amid heavy security on Monday evening. Ahmad’s counsel expressed grave concerns over an alleged imminent threat to the life of the former Samajwadi Party leader on being shifted to Uttar Pradesh and vehemently urged the top court to grant some measure of protection, or at the very least, record his apprehensions in writing while passing an order. “If this court denies the petitioner protection, it would mean a death warrant for him,” the counsel stated.
However, the bench refused to be swayed. Justice Rastogi categorically stated that this was a matter for the high court to consider. "The State machinery will take care of you", the bench orally observed.
The petitioner then chose to withdraw the petition, with liberty to move the High Court.
The accused was produced in a Prayagraj court on Tuesday afternoon in connection with the 2007 kidnapping of Umesh Pal. Pal, a lawyer and the key witness in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in January 2005, was shot dead near his house in Dhoomanganj, Prayagraj on February 24.
Case Title
Atiq Ahmad v. Union of India & Ors. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 107 of 2023
