Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has established a dedicated special court to fast-track the trial of jailed senior Maoist leader Dunna Kesava Rao, alias Azad (52), who has been in judicial custody since 2011.
“In compliance with the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the High Court of Orissa, the state govt, in consultation with the High Court of Orissa, hereby establishes a court of additional district and sessions judge at Paralakhemundi for speedy trial of cases pending against D. Kesava Rao, excluding those registered under the POCSO Act, 2012, for the time being,” a notification issued by the state home department said on Tuesday.
This is believed to be the first instance in Odisha where a separate court has been created solely to dispose of pending cases of one individual undertrial prisoner.
At least 37 criminal cases are currently pending against him in Odisha and his native Andhra Pradesh. Azad is the prime accused in the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxamananda Saraswati and separate attacks on Nayagarh police armoury and R Udaygiri jail in 2006. He also has a murder case against him at Tumudibandha police station.
He has been acquitted in at least ten cases.
In March, the Supreme Court had directed the governments of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to consider setting up special courts for faster disposal of Azad’s cases. Azad too had begun a hunger strike inside Bhubaneswar’s Jharpada Special Jail on October 15, demanding speedy trial.
A member of the Maoist party’s Orissa State Organising Committee (ORSOC), he had surrendered to Andhra Pradesh police on May 18, 2011, and was handed over to Odisha police on June 1 the same year.
