The District and Sessions Court in Guwahati is set to hold another important hearing today in the case linked to well-known Assam singer Zubeen Garg. This will be the third hearing in the matter, which has drawn wide public attention across the state.
According to court sources, all seven accused in the case are expected to be produced before the court through virtual mode. This arrangement has reportedly been made due to security-related concerns.
Those named as accused include Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Sandipan Garg, Shekharjyoti Goswami, and Amrit Prabha Mahanta. Along with them, two of Zubeen Garg’s personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Paresh Baishya have also been named.
Today’s proceedings are likely to focus mainly on the scrutiny of the charges already mentioned in the chargesheet filed earlier. The court is expected to examine the provisions under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) that have been applied in the case. Once the court confirms the relevant sections, the trial process is expected to formally move forward with the framing of charges.
This comes after two earlier hearings; the first held on December 16 and the second on December 22 during which the case went through its initial procedural stages.
The case has been investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police. The team was led by Special Director General of Police M.P. Gupta. After months of inquiry, the SIT submitted a chargesheet running nearly 2,500 pages before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Guwahati.
In the chargesheet, murder charges under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) have reportedly been pressed against four of the accused. These include Shyamkanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, Shekharjyoti Goswami, and Amrit Prabha Mahanta.