Hearing on Hazare’s plea today

Mumbai, NOVEMBER 22: A sessions court would hear on Monday an appeal filed by social activist Anna Hazare against the order of a metropolita...

Mumbai, NOVEMBER 22: A sessions court would hear on Monday an appeal filed by social activist Anna Hazare against the order of a metropolitan magistrate who convicted him in a defamation case by state Social Welfare Minister Babanrao Gholap.

Anna Hazare would be coming from Ralegan Sidhi to attend the proceedings, his lawyer P Janardhan said.

Hazare was convicted on the basis of his interview published by Marathi newspaper Navakal on September 22, 1997 in which he alleged that the Anti-Corruption Bureau had, in an inquiry, found the minister guilty of corruption.

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Additional Chief metropolitan Magistrate K H Holambe-Patil on September nine this year sentenced Hazare to undergo three months’ simple imprisonment or in lieu there of execute a bond of good conduct for two years.

Hazare preferred jail and was accordingly sent to Yerwada prison in Pune. The state government, however, released him in a short span much before he could complete his term. The social activist then filed a criminal revisionapplication before Additional Sessions Judge Abhay Thipsay, challenging the magistrate’s order on various grounds.

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