Mumbai court refuses bail to Dadar-based builder held for assaulting shop owner

The court observed that the builder “took law in his own hands and tried to dispossess the complainant and his family by demolishing the wall”

Mumbai sessions court has rejected the bail application of a 60-year-old city builder arrested by Dadar police for allegedly assaulting a shop owner with a hammer. The court observed that the builder “took law in his own hands and tried to dispossess the victim and his family by demolishing the wall”.

The complainant told the police that his mother owns a grocery shop at Bashir Mohammed Chawl on Bhavani Shankar Road in Dadar (West), Mumbai, and had a dispute with the firm which is carrying out the redevelopment of the dilapidated chawl. The accused builder is one of the partners of the firm.

The incident took place last November when the builder, Chunilal Rita, allegedly brought a hammer and started demolishing the wall of the complainant’s shop. When the complainant, Ashok Haria, intervened, he attacked him with the hammer on the head.

The complainant told the police that his mother Sushilaben owns a grocery shop at Bashir Mohammed Chawl on Bhavani Shankar Road in Dadar (West) and had a dispute with the firm which is carrying out the redevelopment of the dilapidated chawl. Rita is one of the partners of the firm, which had offered the Haria family a flat on the 14th floor of the proposed building in lieu of their grocery shop. However, Haria rejected the offer, resulting in a civil litigation.

On November 24, 2020, Rita came to the chawl around 10.30am and started breaking the wall of Haria’s shop with a hammer. When the complainant and her mother tried to intervene, he allegedly abused them and continued breaking the wall. When Ashok came to the spot, Rita threatened him and hit him with the hammer on head.

Additional sessions judge MG Deshpande said the photographs available on record indicated that the victim was mercilessly beaten by the builder.

“Though the applicant, Chunilal Rita, a resident of Dadar (West) claims to be an old person, the fact is that he had given a heavy blow of hammer on the head of the victim. Not only this, he was to give further blows, but people rescued the victim and removed the hammer from the hands of the applicant,” said the court while rejecting his bail plea.