Arun Gawli’s premature release stayed by SC

Gawli, who is serving life imprisonment for the murder of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007, will remain in prison pending further orders of the apex court

Mumbai: The supreme court on Monday suspended a Bombay high court order directing the Maharashtra government to grant gangster-turned-politician Arun Gulab Gawli the benefit of a premature release policy. Gawli, who is serving life imprisonment for the murder of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007, will remain in prison pending further orders of the apex court.

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“Issue notice to the respondent, returnable on 15.07.2024. There shall be interim stay of the impugned order, till the next date of hearing,” directed a vacation bench comprising justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta, freezing the implementation of the high court’s April 5 decision.

In its order, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court had asked state authorities to consider Gawli’s application for premature release under the 2006 remission policy. The policy allows convicts who have served 14 years of their sentence or reached the age of 65 to apply for remission, except those convicted under specific acts like the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act (MPDA); Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA); and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The bench had said that Gawli, convicted under provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), could not be excluded from availing benefits of the policy by resorting to rule of ejusdem generis (of the same kind).

Maharashtra argued in its appeal that the high court misinterpreted the policy by not recognising the specific exclusion of MCOCA convicts as per revised guidelines on the remission policy issued in 2015. Despite Gawli turning 65 in July 2018, the 2015 policy makes him ineligible for premature release due to his MCOCA conviction. “Thus, Gawli cannot avail the benefit of the 2006 policy even on attaining the age of 65 years,” the state contended.

Additionally, the state argued that the high court overstepped its jurisdiction by allowing Gawli’s petition, citing Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives the power to suspend or remit a sentence solely to the appropriate government.

“The Supreme Court has held that the government possesses sole discretion to either remit or decline to remit the sentence of the convict. No writ can be issued to compel the government to release the prisoner,” Maharashtra submitted.

The high court initially granted the State four weeks to consider Gawli’s early release and later extended it by another four weeks after being informed that Maharashtra had appealed the decision in the Supreme Court.

Gawli, 68, founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS) and a former MLA (2004-09) from Chinchpokli, is serving a life term for the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar on March 2, 2007, reportedly over a property dispute. His role in the murder came to the fore after a group of robbers were nabbed, following which he was arrested and booked under the MCOCA and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. In 2012, he was convicted and sent to Nagpur central prison. He has not been convicted in any of the other cases he is implicated in despite being arrested in connection with them.

With inputs from Vinay Dalvi