Activist Govind Pansare was killed for his book on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Family to HC

Mumbai, Feb 15 (PTI) Activist Govind Pansare was killed because of his book on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, his family told the Bombay High Court on Thursday.

    In an affidavit submitted through advocate Abhay Nevagi, Pansare’s family said that in 2000, the activist had authored a Marathi book ‘Shivaji Kon Hota?’ (Who was Shivaji?).

    “The only reason why he (Pansare) was shot dead was because he wrote a book on Shivaji Maharaj in which he stated that while Shivaji Maharaj was a Hindu king, he never wanted a Hindu nation,” Nevagi told a division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and S C Chandak.

    Pansare was shot on February 16, 2015, in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and succumbed to his injuries on February 20.

    Initially, the case was being probed by a special team of the state CID (Crime Investigation Department) and it had arrested 12 persons. The trial against them is on.

    However, in 2022, the case was transferred to the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) after the activist's family said the CID had not nabbed the conspirators of the crime.

    Since then, the ATS has been submitting periodical probe reports to the court.

    On Thursday, Nevagi said Pansare’s family wants to furnish certain additional information to the probe agency.

    The bench asked the ATS to verify the information.

    Senior counsel Ashok Mundargi, appearing for the agency, said it would look into the same and submit a report in four weeks.

    Advocate Subhash Jha, appearing for two of the accused in the case, said the HC should now stop monitoring the probe as it may affect the trial. The bench, however, noted that the trial court would not be affected by this.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)