Additional public prosecutor R V Kini is the frontrunner to step into special public prosecutor Rohini Salians shoes in the Ghatkopar bomb blast case.
Salian, who has withdrawn from the case following allegations from accused Saquib Nachan, has directed Kini to conduct the case, sources in the court said.
I have been sounded out on the possibility of taking up the Ghatkopar blast case, said Kini when contacted. A final decision is likely to be taken tomorrow.
Since Kini is already on the panel of additional public prosecutors of the Bombay city and civil sessions court, no separate government notification in this regard is necessary.
Kini has led the prosecution in a host of criminal cases including Salman Khans hit and run case, the Madhur Bhandarkar case, the Kaizad Gustad case, Shilpa Shettys case, the Swiss paedophile case and the MPSC case.
Salians decision to withdraw as public prosecutor on December 9, 2004, was taken following Nachans application in Bombay High Court.
He had asked that POTA be applied against Salian and others for falsely implicating him in the Ghatkopar blast case.
Nachan, who was booked for the blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar on December 2, 2002, was later discharged for lack of evidence.
He however continues to be an accused in the Mulund blast case of March 13, 2003.
Since aspersions are cast, it is not right for me to continue as prosecutor, Salian said.
