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Journalism of Courage
Maharashtra Cabinet minister and BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar and seven others were acquitted by a magistrate court on Thursday from charges including unlawful assembly for protesting during the Covid-19 pandemic seeking the opening of temples shut by the then state government as part of the lockdown.
In its detailed order, the court said that on the day of the protest at Babulnath temple on August 30, 2021, there was an order in place by the Mumbai police commissioner prohibiting the assembly of more than five people considering the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. It, however, said that merely because the order was in place on that day, it does not mean that the accused had committed an offence. It noted discrepancies in the FIR and the evidence submitted by the police. The court said that according to the FIR, the accused had held a shankhnad (playing conch shell by blowing into it) protest but the evidence during trial claimed it was a ghantanad (ringing the bell) protest.
“It means that there is a contradiction in the FIR and the evidence led by the prosecution. Therefore, it is not sure whether the accused have arranged shankhnad or ghantanad. It creates doubt on the story of the prosecution that whether the protest of ghantanad or shankhnad was arranged by the protesters,” the court said.
The court also considered the submissions by the defence lawyers for the accused, Prakash Salsingikar and K N More, and said that while a video of the protest was taken, it was not certified under the Indian Evidence Act as was required. The court also said that the incident had taken place on a public road but no statements of independent witnesses were recorded.
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