The Telgi scam accused in the Yerawada jail began an indefinite hunger strike this evening, protesting against the transfer of MCOCA Judge Chitra Kiran Bhedi who was presiding over the fake stamp paper scam case for the past two years.

Though it is not clear whether all the 66 accused are participating in the strike, prison officials said the kingpin of the scam, Abdul Karim Telgi, is taking part in it. “The prisoners have not submitted anything in writing so far. The status of the strike will be known by tomorrow morning,” the prison official said.

Asim Sarode, activist-lawyer who runs a trust called Sahyog, said that the transfer of the judge comes at a crucial juncture and threatens to delay the verdict of the case. Sarode, who is representing four of the scam accused, has submitted two petitions, one to the Supreme Court and the other to the Bombay High Court.

“Bhedi is the third judge to have been transferred. We were at the brink of a breakthrough wherein quite a few of the accused would have been discharged from the allegation of having being involved in the scam,” Sarode said.

Sarode, in his petition to the Supreme Court Chief Justice, mentions that while the Bombay High Court had vested special powers to Bhedi to try scam cases, Hayat Nagarkar does not enjoy these powers.

“Judge Bhedi had gone through various documents, had talked to many of the accused herself and had thus developed a significant insight into the case. With her transfer, the entire process will have to be started all over again. This would be a criminal waste of time. As the chargesheet is bulky, we have asked for the transfer to be stopped till a verdict is reached,” Sarode added.