Court rejects plea to remove Nikam from Beed sarpanch case

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A district and special sessions court in Beed on Tuesday rejected a plea filed by five of the seven accused seeking cancellation of the appointment of special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam in the kidnapping and murder case of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.With the court dismissing the application, special Nikam will continue to represent the state in the high-profile case. "The matter was heard on Tuesday during which the court also scheduled the next hearing for April 7," advocate Balasaheb Kolhe, who has been appointed as assist to special PP, said.Following the hearing, Kolhe said that during the proceedings, the prosecution handed over additional evidence, stored in a laptop, to the defence through a pen drive."The defence lawyers sought access to video recordings of the panchnama, but the prosecution opposed the demand, stating that the videos had already been uploaded on the govt's ‘e-Sakshya' application and could not be shared separately," said Kolhe.Meanwhile, Parli's former municipal president and key accused Valmik Karad, has appointed an additional counsel, with advocate Nilesh Ghanekar from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar set to represent him going forward.Kolhe said the accused in this case appears to have been opting for "delay and derail" the trial on one or the other pretext, including by each time roping in new set of lawyers for representing the case.