Never saw leader who conspires to pull down leaders of his own party: Maha CM Shinde on Thackeray
Khed (Maha) (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray accusing him of attempting to destroy the careers of leaders of his own party.
Addressing a rally at Khed in Ratnagiri district from the same venue where Thackeray had addressed a gathering a fortnight ago, Shinde said he was the true inheritor of the legacy of Bal Thackeray, founder of Shiv Sena.
The Election Commission recently recognised the faction led by Shinde as the Shiv Sena and allotted it the "bow and arrow" poll symbol.
Shinde, whose coup against Uddhav Thackeray had split the Shiv Sena last year and toppled the MVA government led by Thackeray, said he had never seen a leader who conspires with other political parties to destroy the political careers of his own people.
He took the names of Raj Thackeray (MNS chief) and Narayan Rane among others, who had quit Shiv Sena a long time ago.
''How will the party grow in such a situation? I am not 'gaddar' (traitor) but 'khuddar' (a self-respecting person). Uddhav Thackeray doesn't have the right to call us traitors," he said.
Senior leaders like Gajanan Kirtikar, Ramdas Kadam and others had worked shoulder to shoulder with Balasaheb to strengthen the Shiv Sena, but you call them traitors. "There is a limit to exercise restrain,'' Shinde added.
"I am not a chief minister who gives orders sitting at home but I believe in going to the field during the time of crisis. I was infected with the coronavirus twice. I have always worked on the field, but you call me a traitor,'' he said targetting Thackeray.
Thackeray was accused by the Opposition BJP and the Shinde camp of running the government from the comfort of his private residence in Mumbai during his tenure as the chief minister when the pandemic had wreaked havoc.
"Uddhav Thackeray may be the heir to Balasaheb Thackeray's wealth but not to the ideology which he has mortgaged to the Congress and the NCP to become the chief minister (in November 2019). I am the inheritor of Balasaheb's ideology and legacy," Shinde said.
He said Uddhav Thackeray should know that Balasaheb was much bigger than just being his (Uddhav's) father and he should stop harping on the same to gain "sympathy".
"I don't want your wealth. Balasaheb may be your father but don't keep harping on that to gain sympathy. Balasaheb was much bigger than just being your father,'' Shinde charged.
He also targeted the Congress party and said Shiv Sainiks need to choose between Rahul Gandhi "who can't win state elections and cannot take responsibility for his party and the nationalist and patriotic prime minister Narendra Modi".
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
