Zubeen Garg case: Charge framing deferred till Jan 17 as defence seeks time
Key accused appoint counsels; bail petitions filed for Sandeepan Garg, Amritprabha Mahanta & Paresh Baishya
A file image of Zubeen in the yacht in Singapore.
Guwahati, Jan 3: The special court, on Saturday, took up the third hearing in the high-profile case linked to the mysterious death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg, but deferred the framing of charges, granting the defence additional time to prepare its arguments.
Judge Gautam Bora adjourned the matter after defence counsel cited the voluminous nature of the chargesheet and gaps in documentation in seeking more time.
Advocate Apurba Kumar Sharma, general secretary of Lawyers’ Association, Guwahati, said charge framing had been expected during Saturday’s hearing but could not proceed due to developments in court.
“At the charge-framing stage, counsel appearing for Amritprabha Mahanta moved a bail petition and also participated in the proceedings. Given the scale of the case, the defence sought time. The government advocate has acted promptly and will file objections to the bail pleas,” Sharma said.
The two key accused, Shyamkanu Mahanta and Siddharth Sharma, have appointed lawyers, while Sandeepan Garg and Paresh Baishya are being represented by counsel provided through legal aid.
Siddharth Sharma engaged Supreme Court advocate Anil Mishra, while Mahanta has appointed counsel from Kolkata.
Advocate Sharma added that senior counsel Mishra, representing Siddharth Sharma, also sought time to argue on charge framing, pointing to the extensive documentation involved in the case.
Counsel appearing for Mahanta, based in Kolkata, also requested time, stating that they had not received all relevant documents.
“They informed the court that only a pen drive has been provided so far. As a result, they sought time and have not filed any bail petition yet,” Sharma said.
According to him, bail petitions have so far been filed only on behalf of Sandeepan Garg, Amritprabha Mahanta, Paresh Baishya.
The court has fixed January 17 as the next date of hearing. However, the government advocate submitted that the date may not be feasible given the enormity and complexity of the case.
Sharma further said that, given the “extremely voluminous” nature of the chargesheet, a single government advocate was inadequate to handle the case.
He pointed out that the present public prosecutor was having to shuttle between the main District and Sessions Court and the additional court, affecting the pace of proceedings.
“This is a case that requires a strong and dedicated prosecution team of at least 10 to 12 members. The Chief Minister had announced that such a team would be constituted, but it has not been appointed yet. Once a competent team is in place, the quality of prosecution will improve and justice can be delivered more effectively,” Sharma said.