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AWARDS AND HONOURS

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 3/21/2020 11:43:50 AM

Ujjwal Nikam : Recipient of Padma Shri

Ujjwal Nikam is an Indian special public prosecutor who has worked on prominent murder and terrorism cases. He helped prosecute suspects in the1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He was also the special public prosecutor in the 2013 Mumbai gang rape case, 2016 Kopardi rape and murder case. Nikam was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2016. He has received Z+ security, the highest level of security in India. Nikam was born in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, to Marathi parents. His father, Deoraoji Nikam, was a judge and barrister, and his mother was a homemaker. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree, he earned a law degree from the K.C.E. Society's S. S. Maniyar Law Collegein Jalgaon. His son, Aniket, is also a criminal lawyer in High Court Mumbai. Nikam began his career as a district prosecutor in Jalgaon and worked his way up to state and national trials. In a 30-year career, he has secured 628 life imprisonments and 37 death penalties. Because of his involvement in high-profile trials, he has been provided with Z-plus security by the Government of India. • Murder of Gulshan Kumar (1997): Kumar, a Bollywood film producer, was shot on 12 August 1997 outside a temple in Andheri. Nineteen people were charged in the case, but all but one were acquitted in 2002. • Marine Drive rape case (2005): Police constable Sunil More was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl in a police station on Marine Drive in Mumbai and sentenced to 12 years in prison. • Khairlanji massacre (2006): A Dalit family was beaten and murdered in Khairlanji, a small village in Maharashtra, on 29 September 2006 by a mob from the more powerful Kunbi caste. On 15 September 2008, six people were sentenced to death and two others given life imprisonment in the killings. The death sentences were later commuted to life in prison. • Murder of Pramod Mahajan (2006): Mahajan, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, was shot by his younger brother, Pravin Mahajan, after a family dispute on 22 April 2006. Pravin was sentenced to life in prison in December 2007. • Mumbai gang rape (2013): In a verdict on 4 April 2014, three repeat offenders were sentenced to death for gang-raping a photojournalist at the Shakti Mills compound in Mumbai, and a fourth received a life term. • Murder of Pallavi Purkayastha (2013): Purkayastha, a 25-year-old woman living in Wadala.