Biryani trouble: Maharashtra govt may not renew Ujjwal Nikam's contract

The Maharashtra government is considering taking action against Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam for his controversial remarks over 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab’s request of being served mutton biryani. Last week, Nikam had dismissed 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab’s alleged demand for mutton biryani in jail as a myth, saying it was “concocted” to stop an “emotional wave” which was being created in favour of the gunman. The Hindustan Times quoted Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse as saying that Nikam will soon be asked by the Chief Minister’s Office to clarify his remarks post which the government will decide whether action needs to be initiated against him or not. With Nikam’s term ending in two months, the government could, in all probability, not renew his contract as special public prosecutor, the report quoted unnamed sources as saying. [caption id=“attachment_2170669” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. AFP[/caption] Nikam was first appointed public prosecutor in 1994 in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. Since then he has handled various cases including the 2013 Shakti Mills gangrape case and the Khairlanji massacre of 2006 among others. Speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on counter-terrorism, Nikam had said, “Kasab never demanded Biryani and was never served by the government. I concocted it just to break an emotional atmosphere which was taking shape in favour of Kasab during the trial of the case.” “Media was minutely observing his body language and he was well aware of it. One day, in the court room, he bowed his head and wiped his eyes. “Moments later, electronic media broke the news– tears in Kasab’s eyes. It was Raksha Bandhan that day, and panel discussions were started in the media on it. “Some guessed Kasab got emotional in memory of his sister and some even went on to question whether he was a terrorist or not,” Nikam had said. “This kind of emotional wave and atmosphere was needed to the stopped. So, after that, I gave a statement to the media saying Kasab has demanded mutton biryani in the jail,” he added. Nikam said that when he told this to the media, again panel discussions were started and the media highlighted that a dreaded terrorist was demanding mutton biryani in jail while “the truth is that Kasab neither asked for biryani nor it was served.” Kasab, the lone terrorist to be caught alive, was hanged to death in November 2012 nearly four years after the November 2008 attack in which he had killed scores of people. With PTI inputs