Cop who ‘helped’ gangster flee can’t get job back: HC

MUMBAI: Twenty years after the escape from JJ Hospital of sharpshooter from the Dawood gang Firoz Kokani, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case and the killing of corporator Ramdas Nayak, the Bombay high court recently refused to overturn the dismissal of a police sub-inspector accused of helping him flee. The officer, Satish Gawate, had cited his acquittal in the 1998 escape case to bolster his claim for reinstatement. A division bench of acting chief justice Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani and Justice Mahesh Sonak dismissed Gawate’s plea saying a criminal trial and departmental proceedings stand on separate footing.
“On perusing the 2004 judgment, by which, Gawate was acquitted of the criminal charges, we find that the acquittal is not really some honourable acquittal,” said the judges. “Basically, a benefit of doubt has been granted to Gawate. In the said acquittal judgment, at several places, the division bench has commented on the negligence on the part of Gawate but held that such negligence may not be sufficient for his conviction,” the judges said.

The court upheld the disciplinary committee’s order to dismiss Gawate without holding an inquiry. The disciplinary authority had said Gawate had links with gangsters and was complicit in Kokani’s escape. It had decided against holding an inquiry as that would require sharing information vital to tackling gangsters and would endanger state security.

The incident dates back to May 6, 1998 when Kokani along with another undertrial prisoner Salim Beg were taken to JJ Hospital for a medical check-up. Gawate, the only one with a service revolver, was heading the police team comprising three other constables that was escorting the duo. According to the prosecution, Gawate went to check on Beg in another wing of the hospital and left Kokani in the company of two of the constables. An unidentified assailant shot at one of the constables, killing him, while Kokani, who was not handcuffed, escaped in the melee.

Gawate was booked along with Kokani’s father Abdulla and his two brothers and a constable for aiding and abetting the escape. A sessions court in 1999 convicted Gawate, but the order was set aside in appeal in HC. Gawate’s lawyers contended there was no evidence against him and he had been made ascapegoat.