Bhima-Koregaon violence: Panel to start hearing virtually from August

Mumbai: The two-member commission, comprising Justice Jay Narayan Patel and former chief secretary Sumit Mullick that is investigating the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, is likely to resume its hearing from August, after months of no work. The commission had suspended hearings owing to the pandemic and is now likely to conduct virtual hearings and examine witnesses in the case including NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

However, when exactly would the former Union minister be examined is not yet clear. Confirming the development, Ashish Satpute, the advocate for the commission said, "After a meeting held with the state government authorities, yet another extension has been given to the commission to complete its work. This time we have received an extension till December."

“We are likely to begin our work from August 2. We will hold virtual hearings now in view of the prevailing pandemic and accordingly examine witnesses including Pawar,” the counsel added.

Notably, Pawar was first summoned by the commission in March 2020, however, due to the outbreak of the pandemic and the nation-wide lockdown, the commission couldn't work and had suspended its hearings till further orders.

Since then, the commission didn't hold any sitting and would now start from August.