E-Paper
Atiq’s jailed lawyer to be produced in court after police ask for his remand
Khan Saulat Hanif, the 61-year-old lawyer, appeared on Atiq’s behalf right from very beginning from sessions court to Supreme Court.
PRAYAGRAJ The chief judicial magistrate (CJM) on Wednesday directed that Khan Saulat Hanif, the lawyer of slain gangster Atiq Ahmed, be produced before his court on April 27, 2023. Currently lodged in Naini central jail, Hanif was awarded life term, along with Atiq Ahmed and another accused, in the Umesh Pal abduction case by the local MP/MLA court on March 28, 2023.
The CJM’s order (dated April 26) comes after the police department filed an application seeking custody remand of Hanif in the Umesh Pal murder case. In the application, moved by the investigation officer (IO) of Umesh Pal murder case, it was stated that some evidence has been collected during investigation that Hanif was involved in the conspiracy to kill Umesh Pal, and therefore, he has been made accused in Umesh Pal murder case. “In this backdrop, the police custody remand of Hanif is required in order to collect more credible evidence,” added the IO in his application.
On the other hand, Hanif has also moved an application before the CJM requesting that he should be given opportunity of hearing through his counsel before passing any order for police custody remand because according to him, he is not named in the FIR of Umesh Pal murder case. “By the present application, an effort is being made to falsely implicate him in the murder case of Umesh Pal”, added Hanif in his application.
Khan Saulat Hanif, the 61-year-old lawyer, appeared on Atiq’s behalf right from very beginning from sessions court to Supreme Court. He was awarded a rigorous life term along with Atiq in the Umesh Pal abduction case with the court recording its finding that “Khan Saulat Hanif’s meeting of mind with Atiq in the case of abduction is proved beyond doubt”.
While Atiq, his brother Ashraf, Dinesh Pasi and others were accused in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case of 2005, Umesh Pal was a witness to the crime. It is alleged that Umesh Pal was abducted and compelled to retract his statement. It was on March 28, Atiq’s lawyer, Khan Saulat Hanif was also sent to jail along with his client after the court found that he went a step ahead and became a part of the crime.
Therefore, in this backdrop, he is also liable to be punished given rigorous life term under section 364A (abduction) and section 120B (conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code, as the court found that his complicity in the crime is proved beyond doubt. Hanif was found guilty of being involved in forcing Umesh Pal to give a signed statement that was in favour of those named accused in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case. He has two criminal cases pending against him.
