NCP president Sharad Pawar on Monday requested the state-appointed two-member Commission enquiring into the violence that broke out in Pune's Bhima-Koregaon area in January 2018, to grant a fresh date for his cross-examination in the case. The NCP chief said that he wouldn't be in a position to attend the hearing on February 23 or 24.
Confirming the news, Vishram Palnitkar said, "Pawar had appeared before the commission personally and expressed his inability to appear before it on the prescribed date on February 23 and 24."
"He (Pawar) said he will appear on some other day and thus sought an adjournment," Palnitkar said, adding, "He came on Monday only to ensure that the commission isn't inconvenienced on February 23 when he won't appear."
Notably, Pawar is one of the prime witnesses in the case as he had in 2018 claimed that right-wing activists Milind Ekbote and Manohar Bhide were behind the sudden violence that broke out on January 1, 2018, in Pune killing one man.
However, Pawar changed his statements that he made in an affidavit filed in the commission in 2020 stating that he isn't in a position to name any organisation that started the violence.
The state government had in 2018 constituted a commission comprising of Chief Justice (retd.) Jaynarayan Patel and Sumeet Mullick, the former chief secretary of the state. The commission has been examining various individuals, who are related to to violence.
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