Court awards 10 yrs in jail to 4 for procuring, selling spurious liquor

The court had found Raju Tapkar, Donald Patel, Francis D’Mello and Mansoor Khan guilty of charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder (that attracts maximum punishment of life imprisonment), criminal conspiracy, voluntarily causing grievous hurt and relevant sections of the Bombay Prohibition Act for sale of liquor illegally.

On Wednesday, additional sessions judge Swapnil D Tawshikar pronounced quantum of punishment and said that ‘no mitigating circumstances’ had been brought before him to give any concessions to the accused, therefore, they are sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment.

During the trial, special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat had argued that maximum punishment should be given to the accused as the offence of death of 106 people was ‘serious ‘. He had added that punishment should be exemplary so that it would send a strong message and deter people from committing such crimes.

On the intervening night of June 17 and 18, 2015, people began falling ill after having hooch, a spurious liquor, available at a cheaper rate than other alcohol. By the next day, many were rushed to hospitals and 106 people lost their lives. Around 75 suffered injuries, with several losing eyesight partially or completely. Most of the victims were sole breadwinners of their families.

In 2012, in a similar case in Vikhroli, where over 80 persons died, the court had sentenced four to life imprisonment.