A sessions court has remarked regarding the police’s conduct of adding economic offences against lawyer couple Gunratan Sadavarte and his wife and advocate Jayashree Patil, that it “shows a lack of bonafide”. The couple had been booked in connection with the protest by MSRTC workers outside NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence Silver Oak.
The Gamdevi police had arrested Sadavarte for instigating workers and alleged that he had collected around Rs. 2 crores from them for preparing affidavits and as contribution and then bought numerous properties from the amounts. It had further called him a mastermind behind the long-running protest by the workers. Patil, it alleged, was part of the conspiracy of which the aim was to make money from the MSRTC workers as also increase Sadavarte’s political clout by targeting prominent politicians.
Patil’s lawyer had argued while seeking bail for Patil, that a similar offence had been lodged against the couple at Akola and in that offence, a local court had given them protection from arrest. It was also argued that both are advocates and had represented the MSRTC workers before the Bombay HC.
Additional Sessions Judge R Sadrani said in the order that probe was going on in the offence and all of a sudden the investigating officer has recorded statements of some workers of the transport undertaking and added charges of misappropriation of amounts and criminal breach of trust. It remarked that both the causes of action are totally different and that it is not the case of the prosecution that the money that was collected was used in the present crime.
The court stated that adding of such sections in the present matter itself shows a lack of bonafide. Observing that at the most the allegations against Patil are of instigating as she was not present in the protest march, it passed an order granting her the relief.
