Awhad gets anticipatory bail in ‘molestation’ case

Thane: A Thane court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Jitendra Awhad in the molestation case filed against him on Monday by a BJP worker

Thane: A Thane court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Jitendra Awhad in the molestation case filed against him on Monday by a BJP worker.

Thane, India - November 15, 2022: NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad interacts with media after Thane Court grants him bail in the alleged molestation case, in Thane, Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. (Praful Gangurde/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Arguments started in the morning around 11 am, after which the court reserved its judgment and pronounced it around 3 pm.

The woman, who is the vice-president of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, had claimed at a press meet on Monday that Awhad, who was trying to make his way through a crowd, asked her why she was blocking his way, grabbed her shoulders and pushed her aside. Claiming that she was “embarrassed” by this, the woman said she met chief minister Eknath Shinde and requested him to direct the local police to register a case against Awhad.

Awhad’s lawyer, Gajanan Chavhan, displayed two different video clips in court. The older one was a clip during Chhatt Pooja, in which Awhad called the complainant ‘Behen’ (sister) and praised the way she had organised the event. The second clip was the one of the alleged molestation, where Awhad can be heard saying, ‘Kashala aalis tu ikde? Ek side ne ja na. (Why have you come here? Move to one side.)’

Chavhan argued that since his client was ready to cooperate unconditionally with the terms laid down by the court, there was no reason for the police to put him in jail. “At the time of the alleged molestation, there was a crowd of people and the chief minister was also present. There was no bad intention on the part of my client,” he said.

The public prosecutor, on the other hand, argued that if Awhad was claiming he was an acquaintance of the woman, he should not have touched her and could have told her to move aside orally.

After both parties were done with the arguments, anticipatory bail was granted to Awhad. However, the minister said he was “not at all happy with the bail” since the case filed against him under Section 354 was itself wrong. “Later, I studied the whole video of the incident and realised that the woman deliberately came towards me. I did move her aside but if I hadn’t, she would have collided with me.”

Awhad also said that all the police officers he interacted with had told him that they were being pressurised by seniors. “Who are these seniors?” he asked.