On Wednesday, the Supreme Court put a stay on the on-going murder trial of professor H S Sabharwal. Presently, the murder trial is going on in a local court in Madhya Pradesh.

The Apex court also issued directives to the state government on the nature of the trial in the case. The petitioner had urged to the apex court to grant permission for the transfer of the trial outside the state.

Earlier, H.S. Sabharwal had died of a heart attack when some student leaders manhandled him during college union elections on Aug 26, 2006.

Himanshu Sabharwal, son of slain Madhav College professor H.S. Sabharwal had filed a petition in the Supreme Court and had urged to transfer the case in any other state because some of the ABVP leaders were made accused in the case.

Himanshu had sought the transfer of the case because he felt that the case would not get a fair trail in Madhya Pradesh. Now, the SC has asked the Madhya Pradesh government to reply within four weeks into this matter.

Himanshu stated in the petition filed in the apex court that the prosecution is working in favor of the accused in the case. Some of them are from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) that is said to be the students’ wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party in state.

When the bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and D.K. Jain issued notices to state government, it also stated that how the trial court had made a ‘mockery of justice’ in this case.

The apex court took a serious note of the large number of witnesses, including policemen, turning hostile in this case by stating that it would be a ‘mockery’ of justice if the case continued to proceed in the same manner in which it was going on.

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