Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has criticized Bhajan Lal Sharma government in 2022 with a delay in courts with Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli.
In a post on X, Gehlot, who was the Chief Minister of Rajasthan at the time of the incident, said: “BJP did a lot of politics on the killing of Shri Kanhaiya Lal of Udaipur and made it the main issue of Rajasthan elections. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) also handled an agency in this case. Testing, criminals have not been punished in terms of such a clear nature”.
On June 28, 2022, two people – Mohammad Riyaz and Ghosh Mohammad – posted as customers and hacked Kanhaiya Lal Teli at their shop in Udaipur, which was on a post shared by him on social media in support of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The BJP leader had commented on the Prophet during a live television debate.
“The family members of Mr. Kanhiyalal have said that the case is not being run on the fast track. The case is pending in the NIA Court, Jaipur. The additional charge of the NIA court was with the CBI court judge, due to which the case is not being heard. There is no date in the case for the last six months.”
“Earlier, the statements of the witnesses were going on, but the statements of the three main witnesses have not been recorded yet. Regarding the accused arrested in the case, two have been granted bail so far,” Gehlot said while referring to Mohammad Javed and Farhad Mohammad Sheikh Alias Babla.
This month will take place three years after the murder, he wrote.
“Rajasthan Police arrested the culprits in just 4 hours. Mr. Kanhaiya Lal’s family was given Rs 50 lakh as compensation and his two sons were given a government job. But the BJP spread a rumor among the public that only Rs 5 lakh was given as compensation and played five lakh and fifty lakh politics.”
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He said that the investigation was done with the Rajasthan Police and was not taken by the NIA, “He might have been sentenced during our government’s tenure, but it seems that the BJP is only doing politics on the matter”, he said.
The former CM said, “It does not seem that he has any intention to provide justice to the victims.”
However, Nia’s lawyer Sneh Deep told The Indian Express that “the delay is from the accused”.
He said that the accused is demanding a date after the date on various grounds, including the death of a lawyer, seeking time for a new, and dissatisfaction with one provided to them.
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He said, “One of the accused comes from Udaipur. He says that he cannot come daily, so he needs time between hearing. The NIA wants a day-to-day hearing in the case and has filed an application for the same,” he said.
In November last year, the Supreme Court issued notices to NIA and Mohammad Javed on a petition filed by Tel’s son Yash Teli against Javed’s bail given by the Rajasthan High Court in September.
While Javed was accused of a repetition, the High Court said that “Prima facie, there is not enough evidence to suggest that the appellant had conspired with Riyaz Attari or the appellant knew that Riyaz was going to commit the crime of murder.”
Earlier, in July 2022, 31, Farhad Mohammad Sheikh alias Babla was granted bail in September 2023 at the time of arrest. At least 9 persons were arrested by the state and central agencies in the case.
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