Obed Radiowala in court on Wednesday. (Express)TWO DAYS after Obed Radiowala, alleged aide of gangster Ravi Pujari was deported from the United States, a magistrate’s court in Mumbai Thursday directed the Crime Branch to produce him before a special court designated under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on Friday.
Radiowala was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday, but authorities were unable to decide before which court he should be produced. Radiowala was produced before a special MCOCA court. The police sought his custody in the attempted firing case on director Mahesh Bhatt in 2014. But the special court, which last April convicted ten men for the firing conspiracy, had dropped the MCOCA charge.
So, Special Judge SM Bhosale directed the police to produce Radiowala before a regular metropolitan magistrate court. “In the judgment (of April 2018), arrested accused were acquitted for offences punishable under provisions of MCOCA. Therefore…in my considered view, it is not proper now to entertain the remand by the special court,” said the special court.
Radiowala was then produced before the magistrate’s court at 6 pm on Thursday, which sent him to police custody for a day while directing the police to submit the special court’s order.
On Thursday, special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat submitted before the magistrate’s court that since Radiowala had not faced trial under MCOCA, the charge against him could not have been dropped. The prosecution sought for Radiowala to be taken before the special court again on Friday. The magistrate’s court then gave police an additional one day of custody of Radiowala, who will be produced before the special court again Friday.
