HC stays TADA court order in land-grab case

On April 17, Judge S K Ranade of the TADA court in Pune had directed the police officers to pay compensation while acquitting the accused on the ground of insufficient evidence. Following this, the prosecution filed an appeal against the acquittal in the Supreme Court, which dismissed the plea on August 14, 1998. The police officers are: Amarjeet Samra ex-police chief, Basavraj Akashi ex-police chief, P T Lohar addl commissioner, Uttamrao Kale DCP, Prabhat Ranjan DCP and M SSurve senior inspector. Among the detenues were: former revenue chairperson of the Thane Municipal Corporation, Ganesh Sawant and former Standing Committee chairperson Sudhakar Chavan. Though the TADA court did not stipulate the amount to paid, it held the police officers guilty of wrongfully charging the accused under the Arms Act, 1959 and under Section 250 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The case dates back to October 6, 1992, when Sawant and Chavan along with 25 others were detained under TADA by the Naupada police, Thane, for allegedly assaulting Arun Govind Mudliar, a businessman, and possession of arms. The group had allegedly demanded Rs 1.8 lakh or alternatively, a plot of land in Thane. Mudliar was allegedly beaten up and threatened at gunpoint by Sawant and Chavan.

The accused were arrested on October 9, 1992.