A day after Pravin Mahajan denied shooting his brother Pramod last year, the sessions court on Tuesday observed that evidence of all witnesses examined by the prosecution proved his involvement in the case, and allowed him to defend himself by examining a witness.
The court also recorded the his statement in-camera (which cannot be printed). It throws light on what had happened between the two on the day of the incident, April 22, 2006.
Around 3pm Judge Davare passed an order stating: “This is not the case of acquittal at this stage, and the accused is allowed to call upon witness to defend himself, under sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC).”
Pravin said he thought witnesses, including Pramod’s wife Rekha, and other family members had given false testimonies. “I think the witnesses want to hide the reality. So I want to examine a defence witness.”
He told the court that he was going to call in a Pune-based engineer, P. Harikrishnan, to give testimony. Lawyers said Harikrishnan is a family friend.
Later, when he was given a chance to speak, he said, “I just want to talk about the incident which occurred on April 22, 2006. Around 7.30 am I reached Purna building. On the 15th floor Pramod was waiting for me in the passage and we entered the house in the living room. “I directly asked Pramod…”
{{/usCountry}}Later, when he was given a chance to speak, he said, “I just want to talk about the incident which occurred on April 22, 2006. Around 7.30 am I reached Purna building. On the 15th floor Pramod was waiting for me in the passage and we entered the house in the living room. “I directly asked Pramod…”
{{/usCountry}}At this juncture, prosecutor Niteen Pradhan stopped the proceedings, saying the statement was scandalous. He then moved a plea to record the statement in-camera. Daware asked mediapersons to move out and barred them from reporting.