Mumbai, July 5 -- The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state government to urgently appoint a special public prosecutor in the Amboli Bar and Kitchen double murder case from 2011. "We are adjourning these matters by 14 days but we are expecting that the state government appoints the special public prosecutor on urgent basis and the appointed special public prosecutor prepares himself before the next date," the division bench of justices Sarang Kotwal and Shyam Chandak said while hearing appeals by Sunil Bhot, Jitendra Rana, Deepak Piwal and Satish Dulgaj, who were convicted for the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment till death in 2016. The case dates back to October 20, 2011, when a group of friends including Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes were partying at Amboli Bar And Kitchen Restaurant in Andheri. When they stepped out, the four accused allegedly passed lewd remarks at two women in the group, but retreated after Keenan intervened. A short while later, they returned with several accomplices and weapons and brutally attacked Santos and Fernandes. Santos died the same day while Fernandes died on October 30, 2024. On May 5, 2016, the four accused were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment until death. Shortly after the verdict, Keenan's father Valerian Santos, 57, who had doggedly pursued the matter in court, said the battle was not over. "They might appeal in the higher courts which is their right and we have to wait," he told reporters. Months later, the four accused challenged their conviction and sentencing in the Bombay high court, primarily on the contention that the motive behind the double murder was not established by the prosecution. While hearings were ongoing, on August 20, 2018, a key witness in the case, Avinash Solanki, was found murdered in the MIDC Andheri locality. In 2024, Jitendra Rana approached the apex court seeking bail during the pendency of the appeals before the high court. The Supreme Court, via an order in March 2025, directed the high court to decide the appeal within three months. Shortly after the apex court order, on March 25, 2025, Valerian Santos - who was pursuing the matter in court - passed away. Advocate Gayatri Gokhale, who was representing the family, sought time for filing an intervention application in the appeal proceedings on behalf of Keenan's mother. In June 2025, Keenan's younger brother Shane Santos wrote to the state government, seeking the appointment of a senior advocate as the public prosecutor in the high court. On Friday, the court directed the state government to urgently appoint a special public prosecutor and adjourned the matter for two weeks. The next hearing is scheduled on July 16....