MUMBAI: The sessions court on Thursday acquitted Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab and 10 others in a case of alleged assault on civic officials in June 2023 in the H-East ward office, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish that the accused had committed the alleged offences.
Event Context
Presiding over the special MP/ MLA court, additional sessions judge Mahesh K Jadhav held that although the prosecution had proved that the complainant and other witnesses were public servants discharging official duties at the time of the incident, it had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had assaulted, threatened or obstructed the civic officials.
The case stemmed from an incident on June 26, 2023, when Parab and other Shiv Sena (UBT) functionaries visited the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s H-East ward office after the demolition of a party office in Bandra East.
The court noted that prosecution witnesses themselves admitted that the meeting had been convened after prior intimation and had proceeded peacefully for around 30 minutes before the altercation. While the evidence established that a commotion had occurred, it did not identify the accused as the persons responsible for the alleged assault or obstruction, the court said.
“There is no evidence on record which proves that the accused are the same persons who caused obstruction to the public servants while discharging their official duty,” the court stated.
The judge also found that the evidence of the investigating officers was confined to the investigation conducted by them and did not directly connect the accused with the alleged offences.
In summary, the court said, “Prosecution has failed to prove accused in furtherance of their common intention, assaulted and used criminal force to the public servant with intent to prevent them from discharging their duty as a public servant. None of the witnesses stated that the accused voluntarily caused hurt or assaulted the public servant.”
The court further held that there was no evidence on record showing the accused had intentionally insulted prosecution witnesses. “There is no evidence on record that the accused threatened to kill the informant and his colleagues. Prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubt,” the court said, acquitting all 11 accused in the case.
The court directed Parab and the other acquitted accused to execute statutory bonds to appear before the appellate court if required.
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According to the prosecution, civic issues such as water supply were discussed before the Sena (UBT) functionaries raised objections over the demolition of the party office and alleged damage to photographs of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr BR Ambedkar. A scuffle subsequently broke out inside the ward officer’s chamber and assistant engineer Ajay Patil was assaulted, threatened and obstructed from performing his official duties, the prosecution said.
