Jiah Khan: CBI likely to move against Special Public Prosecutor’s appointment

Sources in the CBI have confirmed that the appointment of Dinesh Tiwari in the Jiah Khan Case as Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) will be challenged by the agency before the Bombay High Court..The investigating agency wants it’s own counsel to prosecute the case against Sooraj Pancholi..Tiwari was earlier appearing for Rabia Khan (Jiah’s mother) in the matter. In the light of Khan’s application seeking Tiwari’s appointment as SPP in the case, the state government confirmed the appointment via a notification dated November 6, 2015. The notification says that an amount of Rs. 50,000, as quoted by Dinesh Tiwari, has been deposited by the applicant (Rabia Khan) to the state government..Sources in the home department say that appointment of the SPP on the request of private parties interested in the case can be done by the State in such cases under Rule 22 of the Maharashtra Law Officers (Appointment and conditions of service) Rules 1984. .However the said rule does not talk about appointment of a counsel who has already appeared for the applicant in the same case. .Senior Counsel Amit Desai, a veteran in criminal law, told Bar & Bench that Tiwari’s appointment need not necessarily result in a conflict of interest..“Each investigating agency will determine whether they want their own public prosecutor in a case, that does not cast any aspersions on Mr. Tiwari. A prosecutor’s duty is to the court, if he has expressed his opinion in the matter he may be doing it as an officer of the court..Like Rohini Salian (in the Malegaon case) expressed her opinion on the chargesheet filed by the NIA. Now merely because she was originally appointed by the state, once the NIA took over the investigation and she continued as prosecutor does not mean there is conflict of interest. No! This is your role as a public prosecutor, you express your opinion in good faith.”.As for the CBI’s decision to oppose Tiwari’s appointment, criminal lawyer Vijay Hiremath said that,.“The CBI, or for that matter, any government agency is used to reporting to their own panel of lawyers who are familiar with what goes on. But to suddenly report to somebody else who otherwise is a defence lawyer in several other matters probably against you (CBI), gets difficult. .There may be other reasons but this is the only reason I can think of. Whether CBI is opposing rightly or not will depend on the facts of the case but such an appointment is not regular.” .When contacted by Bar & Bench, Dinesh Tiwari said that the investigating agency has no reason to doubt his appointment..“We are challenging the quality of the investigation done by the CBI, why are they skeptical about my appointment. In fact the only person who should have a problem is Sooraj Pancholi (accused), is the CBI fighting for Sooraj?.Moreover, Rabia has already written to CBI saying that they should appoint me as their counsel.”.Tiwari’s appointment, and possible challenge, is another chapter in a series of litigations in the matter..Initially, the Bombay High Court had transferred investigation to the CBI following a petition filed by Rabia questioning the chargesheet prepared by the state police..When the CBI concurred with the police findings, holding that it was a case of suicide and not homicide, Rabia sought a stay on the trial and filed a petition in the High Court seeking formation of a Special Investigation Team..After initially granting a stay on the trial court proceedings, on May 2 the Division Bench of Justices Naresh Patil and AM Badar vacated the stay order saying,.“Tomorrow you will not be satisfied with the SIT’s investigation, then?”.Khan had then moved to the apex court, but the Supreme Court refused to intervene and directed the High Court to decide her petition expeditiously..Rabia Khan’s petition will now be heard on June 7 in the Bombay High Court.