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Action sought against TADA judge

Law Minister Ramakant Khalap has forwarded to the Bombay high court a complaint against Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act judge S K Shah for ''further action'' for alleged irregularities in acquitting fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's henchmen Jayendra Thakur and Hitendra Thakur in a murder case.

The complaint had been submitted to the minister by Omprakash Narsingh Dube, whose brother Suresh Narsingh Dube had been murdered, allegedly by the accused at Nallasopara railway platform in Maharashtra, on October 9, 1989.

Dube alleged in his complaint that the TADA judge at Pune had committed various irregularities while taking cognisance of the chargesheet, during the trial and while delivering judgment.

According to the complaint, the judge had allegedly forced the prosecution to detach an order of the Bombay high court from the chargesheet, wrongly recorded the statement of a police official despite protests, changed the original depositions of witnesses recorded in Marathi to make it conform to the translated English version and drafted the judgment after pronouncing the verdict.

In his letter to Bombay high court Chief Justice M B Shah, Khalap said the complainant had ''made specific allegations, which are verifiable on the basis of records."

''Since it is about the conduct of a TADA judge of Thane at Pune, S K Shah (who is understood to have been transferred from Pune now), you may like to examine this and see what further action can be taken.''

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