MumbaiJul 13, 2025 19:15 IST
First published on: Jul 13, 2025 at 12:55 IST
-
Share
-
Just over a year since his Lok Sabha election loss from the Mumbai North Central seat, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu.
Best known as the man who prosecuted 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, the 72-year-old Nikam has been the go-to man for politicians cutting across party lines and state governments in Maharashtra for years. Recently, he was appointed the prosecutor in the politically charged Beed sarpanch murder case.
“Ujjwal Nikam’s devotion to the legal field and to our Constitution is exemplary,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X. “He has not only been a successful lawyer but also been at the forefront of seeking justice in important cases. During his entire legal career, he has always worked to strengthen Constitutional values and ensure common citizens are always treated with dignity. It’s gladdening that the President of India has nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. My best wishes for his Parliamentary innings.”
Nikam told ANI, “I thank President Droupadi Murmu for nominating me … When I met PM Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha election campaigning, he expressed his faith in me. Yesterday, the PM called me and asked, ‘Ujjwal ji, should I speak in Marathi or Hindi? I started laughing, and he also laughed. I told him, ‘You know both languages well.’ He then spoke to me in Marathi and told me that the President has entrusted me with new responsibilities and asked if I was ready to take them on. I immediately said yes. I thank the party leadership …,” Nikam told ANI.
Nikam started as a civil lawyer in Jalgaon. His first big break came when he was appointed to represent the state in the 1993 Bombay blast trials. He went on to represent the state in the 1997 Gulshan Kumar murder case and the 2006 murder of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.
Priding himself on securing “over 30 death penalties and “over 600 life sentences, Nikam has represented the government in other high-profile cases such as the 2006 Khairlanji massacre, in which four members of a Dalit family were murdered and two women paraded naked; the Shakti Mills gangrape cases; and the Kopardi rape and murder case.
However, Nikam became a household name across the country after he tried Kasab, who was hanged in November 2012. During the trial, Nikam claimed Kasab had demanded biryani in jail. However, he later told the media that he had “made up the statement as there was a sympathetic wave building towards Kasab”.
In recent years, Nikam has taken a back seat as a prosecutor and has opted out of cases such as the 2011 Mumbai triple blast case and the 2014 Mohsin Shaikh murder case, in which the members of a Hindu outfit are accused.
In May 2024, he resigned as special public prosecutor to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket. During the campaign, Nikam termed himself a “patriot” and evoked numerous terror-related cases that he had been a part of as a lawyer. However, he lost to the Congress’s Varsha Gaikwad by more than 16,000 votes.
Following his loss, he sought to make a return as the special public prosecutor and was appointed to the post. At present, he serves as the public prosecutor in cases such as the 26/11 attack case against Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal and the serial killing charges against Vijay Palande, who had challenged Nikam’s reappointment claiming “he would act to further the BJP’s agenda and may go to any extent to secure false convictions”. However, Palande’s plea was rejected.