Fact Check: Misleading claim about Sharad Pawar giving ticket to Kasab's Advocate

Fact: The Claim is misleading, prominent criminal lawyer Majeed Memon has been an MP (Rajya Sabha) from NCP during 2014 to 2020 but he was not associated with the Ajmal Kasab case nor was he given a ticket from the party to contest in the Lok Sabha polls. Advocate Memon had resigned from NCP and joined Trinamool Congress in 2022.  Meanwhile, it is true that Ujwal Nikam, who represented the state as a public prosecutor in the 26/11 terror case was given the ticket by BJP from Mumbai Central North constituency in the 2024 elections.

After searching the internet with keywords relevant to the claim, we found that it is true that the BJP had given a ticket to Criminal lawyer Ujwal Nikam to contest from Mumbai Central North constituency.

But the part that said NCP gave a ticket to Lawyer Majeed Memon and that he represented Kasab is misleading and false.

In the 26/11 terror case no lawyer was keen to represent Ajmal Kasab, but the Supreme Court with a view that it is important to have a fair trial appointed few lawyers. Initially the apex court appointed Abbas Kajmi to represent Kasab but later replaced him with KP Pawar. When Kasab contested his death penalty in the Bombay High Court, advocates Ameen Solkar and Farshana were appointed by the court to represent him. Advocate Raju Ramachandran handled his appeal in the Supreme Court.

After thorough investigation we did not find any evidence that Sharad Pawar gave Majeed Memon a ticket to contest polls. He was also not involved nor was keen to appear for Kasab. However, he handled many high profile cases in his career including the 1993 Mumbai bombings case and others.

Conclusion: NCP or Sharad Pawar had not given any ticket to Majeed Memon nor is he associated with the Kasab case, hence the claim is misleading.

Disclaimer: This fact check was first published by Factly. Translated and republished by Deccan Chronicle as part of Shakti Collective.