Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Shyam Sundar has called the latest move by the lawyer of Mohammed Nalapad, the accused in the high profile Farzi Cafe assault case, a ‘hoodwinking tactic’. Nalapad’s lawyer has secured a stay for eight weeks from the Karnataka High Court on the criminal proceedings against him in the attempt to murder case.

Speaking to TNM, Shyam Sundar, who was appointed as an SPP, said, “They (Nalapad and lawyer) have kept us in dark. What they have done is wrong and moved the court without serving me. As there is a Special Prosecutor in the case, he has no business to move the court without letting us know. We are going to file a complaint with the court, as this is a matter of great impropriety. They should not have done it. We will explain to the court that this is nothing but a hoodwink tactic from the petitioner.”

While seeking dismissal of the case, Nalapad's lawyers had claimed that the Central Crime Branch (CCB) was not a recognised police station according to the Criminal Procedure Code and hence, it cannot file a chargesheet.

When asked if the case will be dismissed on the ground that the CCB cannot file a chargesheet, Shyam Sundar said, “It (Nalappad council's version) does not have a legal standing. For now, they have tried to convince the court of some technical reason, but we will demystify that. If this kind of interpretation is made, then it will defeat the very purpose of the dispensation of justice.”

He added, “Apparently in one or two cases in the past, a single stay has been granted but we will convince the court that the CCB can file a chargesheet.”

Son of Congress MLA NA Haris, Mohammed Nalapad is currently out on bail after he was arrested on February 19, two days after he and his friends allegedly assaulted Vidvat, the son of a prominent businessman, at Farzi Café, an uptown café in Bengaluru, over a minor altercation.

He is charged with attempt to murder (Section 307) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.