Gawli, aides bail plea rejected

The orders also said the argument made by the panel of the defence lawyers that the ABS workers had assembled at the bungalow where Gawli is camping ever since he was externed from Mumbai as a party meeting was on to decide the ABS nominees could not be upheld as a knife was used for attacking a policeman.

Earlier, the panel of defence lawyers had pleaded that Gawli should be released on bail as he was still to release the list of the ABS candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections. The defence lawyers submitted that Gawli8217;s physical presence was required as he himself was scheduled to hand over the B forms to the official candidates of ABS.

Gawli, his father-in-law Shaikh Lal Mujawar, brothers-in-law Nandu and Baba, and 170 workers of his Akhil Bharatiya Sena ABS were arrested in a night-long operation on August 10. They had filed five separate bail applications on August 16. The bail applications came up for simultaneous hearing in the court of the 6th Additional District and Sessions Judge S R Khanzode on Monday.

Defence lawyers Harshad Nimbalkar, Vijay Dabhade, Shirish Chaugule, N D Pawar, Satish Kamble, Shashikant Pachghan and N H Shaikh pointed out that Gawli himself and several arrested members of the ABS were aspirant candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.

While pointing out that Gawli was the president of ABS, a party registered with the Election Commission, the defence counsels pleaded that he and his men should be granted bail in the wake of the ensuing elections.

While pointing out that the last date to file the nominations was August 24, the defence counsels submitted that most of Gawli8217;s men were behind the bars and were still to file their nominations.

The defence lawyers argued that the evidence gathered by the prosecution was not adequate to slap Gawli with sections 307 and 333 of the IPC which are used in cognizable and non-bailable cases. They also claimed that the investigations into the case were already over.

District Government Pleader Narendra Nikam opposed the bail plea saying Gawli and his men had committed a serious crime by attacking the police team even after the policemen explained the purpose of their visit to the bungalow where Gawli was camping.

Nikam claimed that Gawli himself had instigated his supporters to attack the policemen. Gawli8217;s in-law Shaikh Lal Mujavar and brothers-in-law Nandu and Baba were among the first ones to start hurling stones at the policemen, he said.

Nikam revealed that denizens of 22 districts across the state had been arrested along with Gawli. He said the Pune rural police have already sent broadcast messages to the Superintendent of Police posted in these districts requesting for confirmation of their identities and information about whether their involvement was suspected in previous crimes. He said the information had still not reached the Pune rural police.