Mumbai: Courtroom No. 16 on the first floor of the City Civil and Sessions Court reverberated with claps, an unusual occurrence in a courtroom, where decorum, silence and hushed whispers are the norm.
The claps were a reaction of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s supporters to the announcement by a court staff that Serial No 12 - the bail plea of Sanjay Raut - is ‘allowed’. Police persons stationed in the courtroom had to call for quiet and the claps died down just as soon as they erupted. An elated Raut, who was seated, rose up from his seat with folded hands. Present in the courtroom were some of his family members too.
Packed courtroom and a tensed environment ahead of plea hearing
The order was pronounced around 1 pm and the courtroom, packed since 11 am, was tense leading up to the order’s pronouncement. Later in the day, the court rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea to defer the order from being effective. Raut’s lawyers completed the bail formalities, but he had to be taken to Arthur Road jail. Before leaving court, Raut again with folded hands addressed the judge saying, “Nyayalayache Aabhari’ (Grateful to the court). Special Judge MG Deshpande responded in Marathi too and said that he was doing his duty and that the decision of the court is based on merits of the case.
Earlier, again in a rare instance, firecrackers were heard being burst outside the court premises. The court’s corridors also saw some happy faces of Sena workers swathed in gulal.
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