SC puts brakes on trial in Rizwanur Rehman case

The Supreme Court today said that the trial in the Rizwanur Rehman case would not commencetill the Calcutta High Court decides a petition filed by industrialist Ashok Todi challenging CBI's decision to chargesheet him in the case. However, the apex court remained silent on the issueof framing of charges in the case in which the investigating agency in its report alleged that Todis used pressure tactics to drive Rizwanur to commit suicide.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnanasked the High Court to dispose of the petition filed by Todi, Rizwanur's father-in-law, at the earliest. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Todi whose daughter Priyanka married Rizwanur, had sought a stay on the trial court from framing the charges in the case. He submitted that the registration of the FIR by the CBI was illegal as the High Court had only asked the agency toprobe the cause of death of Rizwanur, whose body was found near railway tracks. Todi, along with six others, was chargesheeted by the CBI on September 22 for alleged abetment of Rizwanur's suicide.

A Metropolitan Magistrate in Kolkata has asked theaccused to appear before it on October 27. Todi sought a stay on the proceedings in the trialcourt alleging that the CBI was only allowed to find out thenature of the death of Rizwanur but it filed a charghesheet. Besides Todi, the chargesheet named his brother Pradeep, brother in-law Anil Saraogi, IPS officer and former Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police Ajoy Kumar, former Assistant Commissioner of Police Sukanti Chakraborty,sub-inspector Krishnendu Das and Rizwanur's neighbour S M Moinuddin alias Pappu. The lawyer appearing for the victim's family opposed Todi's plea and even wanted the Bench to give a time-frame tothe High Court for disposing of the pending petition.