Bombay HC upholds right to speedy trial, grants bail to five in 2018 arms haul case
Mumbai (PTI): Speedy trial has received recognition of the fundamental right of a person facing accusations, the Bombay High Court has said while granting bail to five persons arrested by the Maharashtra ATS in 2018 for allegedly plotting to attack Pune's Sunburn festival in 2017.
A division bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said in an order on July 30 that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to substantiate the conspiracy charges, and noted the lengthy incarceration of the accused and the bleak prospects of a speedy trial.
The five accused, Sujith Rangaswamy, Amit Baddi, Ganesh Miskin, Shrikant Pangarkar and Bharat Kurane, were arrested in 2018 after the ATS had seized a cache of arms, ammunition, and explosives from the residence of two other suspects in Nalasopara in 2018.
The five accused have been in custody since 2018, and the trial is expected to be lengthy, with 417 witnesses on the prosecution's list.
"The chances of timely completion of trial appear to be bleak. Speedy trial has received recognition of the fundamental right of a person facing accusations," the bench said.
The ATS had claimed the cache of arms and ammunition were intended for an attack on the Sunburn music festival in December 2017.
The ATS case was that the accused persons were active members of right-wing groups 'Sanatan Sanstha' and 'Hindu Janjagruti Samiti', and they were influenced by the philosophy of creation of a 'Hindu Rashtra'.
The court, which was hearing appeals filed by the accused challenging a special court order refusing them bail, noted that none of the alleged attacks was carried out.
"The Sunburn programme was, in fact, successfully completed without any disturbance, but the arrest in the present case was made in the first week of August 2018 that is eight months after the programme was over," the court observed in its order.
The court found the prosecution's evidence, including witness statements, lacking and "insufficient".
"We have prima facie formed an opinion that these statements are insufficient to establish the charge of conspiracy against the appellants before us," the court said and granted bail to the accused, imposing conditions, including furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each and regular reporting to the ATS and attendance at court hearings.
The prosecution alleged that the accused had formed a gang to oppose anti-Hindu elements in the society and had conspired to target certain music festivals and shows, including the 'Sunburn' festival, which was to be held in Pune in 2017.
It is alleged that the accused had planned to disrupt the festival by throwing stones and petrol bombs and creating a ruckus using firearms.
The case against the accused involved charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Indian Penal Code, Explosives Act, and Explosive Substances Act.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
