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Badlapur case: Congress opposes Ujjwal Nikam's appointment as public prosecutor
Congress leaders argued that Nikam had previously contested elections on BJP ticket and alleged that the school is also managed by people with ties to the BJP.
Badlapur school sexual abuse case: The Mumbai Congress unit on Wednesday opposed the appointment of senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor for the case involving the abuse of two kindergarten students at a school in Maharashtra's Badlapur.
Congress leaders argued that Nikam had previously contested parliamentary elections on a BJP ticket and alleged that the school is also managed by individuals with ties to the BJP. “He ran for election on a BJP ticket. How can justice be expected when he represents the case, and the people running the school are linked to the BJP?” said Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.
Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, announced earlier in the day the appointment of senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor for the Badlapur school sexual abuse case. “Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has announced that the unfortunate incident in Badlapur will be speedily investigated and the case will go to a fast-track court. It has been decided to appoint senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor,” the deputy CM’s office posted in Marathi on X (formerly Twitter).
Nikam, 71, has previously handled numerous high-profile cases, including serving as the public prosecutor in the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the sole terrorist captured during the November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai. The senior lawyer successfully secured a death penalty for Kasab, a member of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, who was executed in Pune’s Yerawada Jail in November 2012.
Congress workers protest against the state govt
Earlier in the day, Congress workers staged a protest against the State Government over the alleged sexual assault of a girl child at a school in Badlapur. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad led the demonstration outside Mantralaya, the state secretariat, in response to the Badlapur incident. Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of the opposition in the state assembly and several other Congress leaders were also present during the protest.
Holding placards outside the gates of Mantralaya, Congress leaders and workers chanted slogans against the government, criticising the “delay in the registration of the FIR” The police prevented the protesters from entering the premises.
Gaikwad and Wadettiwar criticised the state government for the “increase in crimes against women in the state.”
On August 17, police arrested a school attendant for sexually abusing two kindergarten girls at a school in Badlapur. According to the complaint, the attendant assaulted the girls in the school's restroom, an official reported.
Opposition parties have claimed that the girls' parents were forced to wait for 11 hours at the Badlapur police station before officials addressed their complaints.
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters blocked the railway tracks at Badlapur station and stormed the school building in response to the incident.
The opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), announced a "Maharashtra bandh" on Saturday, August 24, in response to the alleged sexual assault incident in Badlapur, Thane district.
MVA allies – Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar – made the decision during a meeting, according to Vijay Wadettiwar. He confirmed that all MVA allies would join the bandh on August 24.
