File pic of Puttingal Pravoor Temple fireworks blast
Kochi: The high court, in a petition challenging the replacement of the special public prosecutor in the 2016 Puttingal Devi Temple fireworks blast case, has stayed the ongoing trial before the additional sessions court, Kollam, till Sept 14. Accordingly, the bench adjourned the matter to Sept 14 and stayed the operation of the impugned notification till then.
He was removed from conducting the trial without any reason, according to the petitioner. Justice G Gireesh issued the interim order on a petition filed by K P Jabbar, the former special public prosecutor appointed by the state govt to conduct the case. Recently, the govt replaced Jabbar by appointing G Subhadevan as the special public prosecutor in the case. Following this, Jabbar approached the court seeking permission to conduct the trial and a stay on the notification issued by the state govt appointing a new special public prosecutor. During the hearing, the public prosecutor sought additional time to file a statement in the petition.