By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Wednesday stayed the murder trial of Ujjain professor H.S. Sabharwal, that was going on in a local court in Madhya Pradesh, and issued notices to the state government on a petition seeking transfer of the trial outside the state.
Responding to a petition filed by Himanshu Sabharwal, son of slain Madhav College professor H.S. Sabharwal, who died of a heart attack after he was manhandled by some student leaders during college union elections on Aug 26 last year, the apex court asked the Madhya Pradesh government to reply within four weeks.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Himanshu Sabharwal had sought transfer of the trial outside the state as he "could not expect a fair trial in the state."
He stated that the prosecution was trying to give a clean chit to the accused, including some from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
While issuing notices to the Madhya Pradesh government, the bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and D.K. Jain made critical remarks wondering if the trial court had made a "mockery of justice."
Professor Sabharwal, who was part of the organising committee for the students' union elections in the college, was threatened and manhandled in the college premises allegedly by leaders of the ABVP. He later died in hospital.