Written by: Express News Service
2 min readMumbaiDec 4, 2013 01:09 AM IST
First published on: Dec 4, 2013 at 01:09 AM IST
A kalyan sessions court Tuesday sentenced former Ulhasnagar MLA Pappu Kalani and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of BJP activist Inder Bhateja in 1990. Sessions judge Rajeshwari Bapat Sarkar had on Saturday convicted Kalani,Bachie Pandey,Baba Gabriel and Harshad Shaikh.
While Pandey,Gabriel and Shaikh were held guilty of murder,Kalani was held guilty of being part of the conspiracy.
Inder was killed barely two months after his brother Ghanshyam Bhateja was shot dead on February 27,1990. At the time,while Kalani was contesting the Ulhasnagar Assembly seat as a Congress candidate,the Bhateja brothers were supporters of the BJP candidate Sheetaldas Harchandani. The brothers had a construction business.
According to the prosecution,during polling on February 27,when the Bhatejas caught Kalanis associates casting bogus votes,they were threatened with dire consequences. The same evening,allegedly on Kalanis instructions,the accused gunned down Ghanshyam in front of Pinto Park Hotel,while Inder managed to escape.
Inder is believed to have written to authorities and secure police protection but was later gunned down.
The trial in Ghanshyams murder case has been stayed by the Supreme Court. While the TADA charges in that case were dropped by the trial court,the prosecution has filed an appeal on that before the apex court.
Court nod for release of 3D version of Sholay
MUMBAI: Decks have been cleared for the release of the 1975 classic Sholay in 3D after the Bombay High Court Tuesday rejected Bollywood producer Ramesh Sippys application seeking a stay on the release of the 3D version made by his nephew Sascha over a copyright dispute. Sippy had recently filed an appeal before a Division Bench against the April 1 judgment of Justice Kathawala who had rejected Sippys petition over the same issue.
We see no reason to interfere with the order under appeal. Neither before the court below nor before us in appeal has the appellant been able to make out a prima facie case or to establish that the balance of convenience is in his favour. The appeal is,therefore,dismissed, ruled the Divison Bench. ENS
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