The Thane Special Sessions Court, under the Special Judge for SC/ST Act, has acquitted Vikrant Chavan, former corporator and president of the Thane district Congress party, in a case where he was accused of abusing a Shiv Sena party worker, Nandkumar Bhoir, on the basis of caste.
The case, stemming from a political altercation in 2013, was dismissed after the court ruled that it was a political feud wrongly given the color of a caste-based atrocity. The court, presided over by Judge A.S. Bhagwat, held that there was no substantive evidence to support the charges, stating, “The political enmity between the rival parties appears to be one of the reasons for implicating the accused."
The alleged incident occurred on February 5, 2013, when a Shiv Sena banner celebrating current Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s birthday, which had been placed near the Congress office, was reportedly damaged. Bhoir and other party members claimed they were fixing the banner when Chavan intervened and allegedly abused them using casteist slurs.
Chavan, however, denied all allegations, stating that the complaint was a politically motivated retaliation. His defense argued that Bhoir had filed the complaint to counter an earlier police complaint made by Chavan against Bhoir and others involved in the same incident.
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The court also noted significant delays in the filing of the complaint, which weakened the prosecution’s case. Bhoir filed the FIR 19 days after the incident, a delay that was not satisfactorily explained. The court pointed out that Bhoir only filed the complaint after learning that Chavan had already lodged a police complaint against him the day after the incident.
Further, during cross-examination, Bhoir admitted that he had good relations with Chavan for years, often visiting his house. The court found this inconsistent with the claim of caste prejudice, concluding that the possibility of casteist abuse was “nil.”
Based on these findings, the court acquitted Chavan of all charges.
