Accused in harassment case aquitted afer 15 years

The total cost to Palshetkar in the case, he said, was Rs 1 lakh. And the mental trauma caused to him was priceless.

On November 4, 1991, Palshetkar’s wife Jayshree poured kerosene on herself in her husband’s house at Cotton Green and immolated herself. Her brother, Baburao Kondvilkar, in his complaint to the police, accused Palshetkar and his mother Savitribai (now 80) of having harassed her to death by their incessant demands for dowry.

In December, the case was first heard in Mazagaon court, where Palshetkar’s and his mother’s line of defence was that Jayshree was mentally unbalanced.

This was known to the complainant, her brother Baburao, they claimed. But Kondvilkar could not be traced.

Despite the case having only nine witnesses, the case dragged on till 2007, because it was heard in the open court, said Palshetkar’s lawyer, Rajendra Javanjal.

It took two years just to record the evidence of the witnesses, who also included one of Palshetkar’s neighbours and two police officers, because of the long gaps between hearings.

“Had the case been in Sewri fast track court, we would have been acquitted in one month,” he said.

When the present judge, J F Kalyanpurkar, saw that the case had dragged on for too long and had passed through the courts of two of her predecessors, she decided to take it up actively.

Finally, the verdict came through on Saturday: Not guilty. Palshetkar’s mother, weak-sighted and diabetic, was also acquitted.

In her order Judge Kalyanpurkar said, “The delay has been attributed by lawyers to the delays inherent in the legal system…”

Palshetkar said, “The tension has been lifted from my head.” He said his welding business was also affected by his incessant trips to the court.