HC allows to close criminal case against Mungantiwar, others

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court last week allowed the state government to close a criminal case against BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar and 21 others for rioting and causing damage to public property while protesting against Western Coalfields Limited in Nagpur, way back in June 2012.
According to the police, on June 26, 2012, an agitation was organised in front of the Western Coalfields Limited headquarters in Nagpur, to protest the alleged pollution and environmental damage on account of the mining operations of the public sector undertaking. It was further alleged that on the pretext of submitting representation, the accused barged into the office of the company and damaged property worth around ₹1.50 lakh.
The state government had filed an application in the high court, seeking permission to withdraw the prosecution, stating that a proposal to that effect was recently put up before the state-appointed committee. The proposal was backed by a report from the public prosecutor, stating that the incident arose out of social agitation and, in his opinion, prosecution deserved to be withdrawn. Based on this report, the committee had decided to withdraw the prosecution.
A division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice NJ Jamadar accepted the reasoning given by the public prosecutor and the committee's decision to withdraw the prosecution, and allowed the criminal case against the former minister and others to be dropped.
'Prima facie, it appears that the genesis of the alleged offences is in an agitation over the ill effects of mining and the resultant environmental damage,' said the bench. 'The Committee has noted that there is no loss of life and damage to public property in excess of ₹5 lakh - the parameters stipulated under the Government Resolution for withdrawal of prosecution in cases arising out of social and political issues,' it added.
The judges observed that the decision of the committee to withdraw the prosecution appeared to be guided by considerations for withdrawal of prosecutions arising out of social and political agitations. 'It does not appear that the prosecution is being withdrawn for an extraneous consideration,' the court said.

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