The year 2021 has been particularly difficult for courts across the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most of the courts in the country as well as in Maharashtra heard matters virtually, some of the hearings were a combination of physical as well as virtual appearance by the parties.
The year started with a suspicious letter and a car filled with gelatin found next to the residence of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani on February 25. The National Investigation Agency took over the probe and Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze and others were arrested in the case. Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh received flak for the bomb scare and was transferred to the Maharashtra Home Guard as the Director General on March 17.
He then wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray citing instances of corruption by State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
In a rare judgment by the Bombay High Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation on April 5 was directed to initiate a preliminary inquiry against Mr. Deshmukh. This resulted in an FIR against him by the Enforcement Directorate which led to his resignation and eventually his arrest on November 1.
The Bombay High Court at Goa on May 5 acquitted former journalist Tarun Tejpal in a case of rape and sexual assault of his young colleague. Special Judge Kshama Joshi had held, “The victim’s account does not demonstrate any kind of normative behaviour on her part – that a victim of sexual assault on consecutive nights might plausibly show.”
Still an accused
After contracting COVID-19 at Taloja Central Jail, Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy died on July 5 at a private hospital.
The 84-year-old is still an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case and was arrested by the NIA on October 9 from Ranchi. He had spent over 50 years of his life serving the tribals. His co-accused human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was granted bail by the High Court on December 1.
Without possessing any contraband on himself, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on October 3 after the agency seized drugs and cash from a cruise ship in Mumbai. Mr. Aryan and others were booked under several sections of the Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act. He was sent to Arthur Road Jail and was granted bail on October 28.
Raj Kundra, businessman and husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, was arrested on July 19 after a pornographic racket was busted early this year. He was charged with producing and streaming pornographic content but was granted bail on September 20 by a magistrate court.