Ujjwal Nikam, who helped prosecute Kasab, among 4 nominated to Rajya Sabha

President Droupadi Murmu has nominated four eminent personalities to the Rajya Sabha. Among those nominated is prominent criminal lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, known for handling high-profile cases such as the trial of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab.

 

According to the notification released on Sunday, July 13, the President made the nominations to the Upper House under the powers conferred by Article 80(1)(a) of the Constitution, read with clause (3) of the same article.  Besides Nikam, the President has nominated veteran social worker and educationist C Sadanandan Master, former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and noted historian and academic Meenakshi Jain to the Rajya Sabha. 

Ujjwal Nikam gained widespread recognition during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks trial, prosecuting Ajmal Kasab and successfully arguing for the death penalty. He was also the Maharashtra government’s prosecutor in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts trial—a case that spanned 14 years and convicted over 100 accused.

 

Later, Nikam served as the BJP candidate for Mumbai North Central in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In 2016, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri for his contributions to criminal justice. Known for prosecuting high-profile cases—including Gulshan Kumar’s murder and the Shakti Mills gang rape. 

C Sadanandan Master is an RSS leader from Kannur, Kerala and a noted social worker. He became a victim of political violence in 1994 when both his legs were chopped off by CPI(M) cadres in retaliation for his ideological shift. In February 2025, the Kerala High Court upheld the convictions of eight CPI(M) workers involved in the attack. In 2016, Sadanandan was fielded by the BJP in the Kerala Assembly elections from Koothuparamba.

 

Harsh Vardhan Shringla is a retired Indian diplomat who served as the 33rd Foreign Secretary of India from January 2020 to April 2022. His diplomatic career included key assignments as Ambassador to the US (2019–2020), High Commissioner to Bangladesh (2016–2019), and Ambassador to Thailand (2014–2016). He also served as chief coordinator of India’s G20 presidency in 2023.

 

Meenakshi Jain is a former Associate Professor of History at Delhi University’s Gargi College and a past fellow of the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library. Awarded the Padma Shri in 2020 for her contributions to literature and education, she is known for her scholarly works like Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse and Medieval India.