A proper procedure was not followed while invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, the defence told a special court on Saturday.

During final arguments in the 2013 murder case, defence counsel Virendra Ichalkarnjikar told additional sessions judge P P Jadhav that the CBI relied on the extra-judicial confession of one of the accused, a shooter, recorded in Karnataka about shooting Dabholkar dead.

"He (the accused) should have been produced before the magistrate, but the police knew that if he is produced before the magistrate, they will be exposed," he said.

Ichalkaranjikar also said the prosecution didn't summon the concerned IPS officer from Karnataka who had recorded the said confession as a witness in the case.

"No proper procedure was followed while giving the sanction to invoke UAPA in the case. The law mandates that the sanction should be given by a secretary but a deputy secretary's sanction was taken," he said.

Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013, when he was on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune city.

During its final arguments in the case, the prosecution had said the opposition to Dabholkar’s crusade against superstition led to the conspiracy to eliminate him.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court order and arrested Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon linked to Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016. According to the CBI, he was one of the masterminds of the crime.

The agency also arrested alleged shooters — Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar — and co-conspirators Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave.

While Tawde, Andure and Kalaskar are in jail, Punalekar and Bhave are out on bail.

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