19 years on, 48 Shiv Sena leaders cleared of rioting, disrupting Rane’s assembly

A special court acquitted 48 former Shiv Sena leaders of rioting charges from a 2005 incident, citing lack of evidence and inconsistencies in the prosecution's case.

MUMBAI: A special court last week acquitted 48 leaders from the erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena around 19 years after they were booked for being part of a mob that turned violent and disrupted an assembly organised by Narayan Rane, who was set to leave the party and join the Congress.

Among the 48 accused were Sada Sarvankar, now an MLA from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena; Bala Nandgaonkar, who’s now with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena; and Anil Parab, now with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The special court acquitted the 48 leaders on November 30, saying there wasn’t adequate evidence against them.

The incident occurred on July 24, 2005, when members of the Shiv Sena opposed an assembly organised by Rane in Dadar. As per the prosecution, the accused raised slogans against Rane and were not willing to leave the venue despite being told that their presence was illegal. The complaint was filed by a police officer who injured her left hand while attempting to control the mob.

The court observed inconsistencies in the evidence provided by prosecution witnesses, which created doubt about the veracity of the prosecution’s case. Highlighting one such inconsistency, the court noted that the police officer who got injured lodged a report at the police station after 7 pm, whereas the investigating officer had said that she came to the police station at 11 am.

The court said that all material prosecution witnesses had claimed they were injured during the alleged mishap, but there were no medical papers on record to prove this. It added that there were serious gaps in the investigation, and no steps had been taken to identify the accused.

“...the very foundation of the prosecution case based on the charges of an unlawful assembly, rioting, etc., cannot be said to have been established,” the court ruled.