Dhananjay Desai
The sessions court in Pune rejected a bail application filed by Dhananjay Desai, a member of Hindu Rashtra Sena and an accused in the Mohsin Shaikh murder case, on Wednesday. Desai had sought provisional bail for four months on medical ground.
Mohsin, an engineer in a private firm in Pune, was killed in June 2014, when communal clashes had broken out after the circulation of objectionable pictures of Shivaji Maharaj and Bal Thackeray. Mohsin was attacked, allegedly by some youths associated with the Hindu Rashtra Sena, while he was on his way home with a friend after offering prayers at a mosque in Hadapsar, on June 2, 2014. Mohsin later died while undergoing treatment at a hospital. His brother Mobin Shaikh had filed a complaint of murder at the Hadapsar police station. Police had nabbed as many as 21 HRS activists, including Desai.
Of the 21 accused, 18, including a minor, are already out on bail. Three others, including Desai, are still lodged in prison. Desai’s lawyer Milind Pawar said they would be moving the Bombay High Court against the order, passed by Additional Sessions Judge R N Sardesai.
“Desai has been in jail for over three years. He is not receiving proper medical treatment in jail. He has lost a lot of weight… he has also been suffering from some pain and needs to get an MRI done. But the facility is not provided in jail or at Sassoon hospital. The prosecution has also not been able to produce any direct evidence about his involvement in the murder case. The High Court has noted it and accepted our revision application seeking Desai’s discharge in the case…But the court has rejected our plea for provisional bail. We are moving the High Court against this order,” said Pawar.
On July 31 and August 2, district government pleader Ujjwala Pawar, who appeared in the sessions court as the prosecution lawyer, had argued that the provisional bail application for Desai should be rejected as the jail administration could provide him the necessary medical facilities. Pawar also read out the statements of some of the witnesses, on how the accused HRS members allegedly attacked Muslims in Hadapsar after they were “provoked” by the speech of their leader Dhananjay Desai.
The hearing on another application by Desai, seeking regular bail, will take place on August 14.
