Govind Pansare murder case: Bombay HC stops monitoring of probe, asks lower court to expedite trial

Govind Pansare, a Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and writer, and his wife, Uma, were shot in Kolhapur city in western Maharashtra on February 15, 2015, while on a morning walk. Pansare succumbed to his injuries five days later, while his wife survived the attack.

The Bombay High Court (HC) on Thursday discontinued its monitoring of the investigation into the 2015 murder of communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare, while urging the sessions court to expedite the ongoing trial, news agency PTI reported.

The trial at the Kolhapur court should be conducted on a daily basis, the Bombay HC directed.

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata stated that monitoring of the investigation was no longer necessary, noting that a report submitted by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra Police indicated that the case had been examined from all angles.

According to the report, apart from the arrest of the two absconding accused, nothing further remains to be investigated, the court said.

"According to us, only for the purpose of the arrest of the absconding accused, continuous monitoring of the further investigation by this court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is not necessary," the bench stated.

Once the wanted accused are arrested, the investigating agency can inform the trial court in Kolhapur, the judges said, disposing of a plea filed by one of the accused against the HC's continued monitoring of the investigation.

Govind Pansare, a Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and writer, and his wife, Uma, were shot in Kolhapur city in western Maharashtra on February 15, 2015, while on a morning walk. Pansare succumbed to his injuries five days later, while his wife survived the attack.

The investigation into the Govind Pansare murder case was initially conducted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID), but was transferred to ATS in 2022.

HC had been monitoring the investigation since 2016, with the agencies regularly submitting reports about the progress of the probe, PTI reported.

Addressing a point raised by the victim's family regarding the delay in the trial, the court noted that it had already commenced, and as of December 16, 2024, the prosecution had examined 28 witnesses.

The bench instructed the sessions court to expedite the trial and hold daily hearings in the Govind Pansare murder case, PTI reported.

Pansare's murder followed the killing of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in August 2013. After the attack on Pansare, Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh were also murdered in 2015 and 2017, respectively. According to the investigating agencies, some of the suspects in all four cases were linked to each other.

(With PTI inputs)