Zubeen Garg death case: Accused appoint advocates; next hearing on January 17

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Following the hearing in the Zubeen Garg death case today, the next date of hearing was fixed on January 17, 2026. On that day, charges are likely to be framed against the accused. The seven accused were present virtually before Judge Gautam Baruah in the Kamrup (Metro) District & Sessions Court today. The public prosecutor verbally prayed for time for a hearing on the framing of charges due to the voluminous nature of the charge sheet and the documents. The court allowed his prayer and deferred the framing of charges against the accused.

During the hearing today, Zubeen’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg, and uncle, Manoj Borthakur, were present in the court. Incidentally, the accused, Amritprabha Mahanta, Siddharth, Shekhar, and Shyamkanu engaged advocates on their own to defend them.

Advocate AK Bhuyan appeared on behalf of Amritprabha Mahanta. He moved a bail petition and participated in the charge-framing hearing on her behalf.

Siddharth’s advocate, Anil Mishra, appeared before the court virtually from Kolkata. He prayed for more time to appear for Siddharth’s charge-framing. Anil Mishra, along with Ankit Dhawan, Mohit Miglani, and Satyam Shivach, has agreed to represent accused Siddharth Sharma.

On behalf of Shyamkanu Mahanta, advocate Rajdeep Banerjee, also from Kolkata, appeared in person before the court. The counsel for Shyam Kanu Mahanta filed a petition, praying for the de-freezing of accused Shyam Kanu Mahanta’s bank accounts, which were frozen during the course of investigation. Advocate Banerjee filed another petition for supplying non-relied-upon documents by the prosecution.

Meanwhile, advocate S. Kalita has been engaged to defend Shekhar Jyoti Goswami. His advocate prayed for time for a hearing on consideration of charges.

On the other hand, Garima has engaged advocate Pradipta Talukdar to assist Public Prosecutor Upendra Bhattacharya.

Moreover, the SIT today filed a petition for the attachment of Mahabir Aqua, of which Siddharth is a partner. The judge could not determine the amount invested by Siddharth and served a show-cause notice to the company.

In today’s hearing, bail applications were also filed by DLSA-appointed advocates for Sandipan Garg and bodyguard Paresh Baishya. Upendra Bhattacharya, the government prosecutor, opposed the bail pleas.

The court ruled that as private defense counsels have made appearances for accused Amritprava Mahanta, Shyam Kanu Mahanta, Siddharth Sharma, and Sekhar Jyoti Goswami, the Chief Legal Aid Defense Counsel/Deputy Chief Legal Aid Counsels are discharged from defending the accused.

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