The Bombay High Court has suspended the conviction and sentence of BJP legislator from Sion Koliwada, Captain Tamil Selvan, in a case of allegedly assaulting BMC officials in 2017. Selvan was convicted by the sessions court on October 31 and was sentenced to six months in prison. The alleged assault took place at a protest led by Selvan against the BMC’s move to disconnect illegal electric and water supply connections in the Sion Koliwada area of Punjabi Colony.
Details of case
His advocates contended that there was no evidence to show that the MLA himself assaulted the BMC officials. Also there were no independent witnesses in the case. The MLA’s counsels also submitted that the BMC had initiated action without prior notice and hence he had gone to the spot to request the officials to give a 24-hour grace period to approach a competent court for relief.
Justice SM Modak on Monday asked the records and proceedings from the lower court that convicted Selvan and expedite the hearing in the appeal. The court, in the meantime, suspended Selvan’s sentence and granted him bail on a Rs15,000 personal bond. The trial court had temporarily suspended the sentence to allow him to approached the high court.
Prosecution's claims
According to the prosecution, Selvan and others prevented BMC officials from disconnecting water and electricity supply to 25 buildings in Sion Koliwada, which were in an extremely dilapidated and dangerous state. In 2014, the residents were given a notice to vacate their residences, which not complied. The civic body attempted to disconnect water and electricity supply, but protests occurred annually.
On June 1, 2017, when BMC officials reached the spot, a large protesting crowd asked them to leave.Selvan, the prosecution claimed, repeatedly said that they would get a stay order against the BMC action. Meanwhile, the crowd became aggressive and started pelting stones, resulting in a riot-like situation. Police personnel who had accompanied BMC officials too got injured in the incident.
