HC upholds lifer for gangster Arun Gawli

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday upheld life imprisonment for gangster and former MLA Arun Gawli for the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday upheld life imprisonment for gangster and former MLA Arun Gawli for the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007.

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In 2012, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court sentenced Gawli and his 11 aides to life imprisonment, holding the gangster responsible for orchestrating the murder for ₹30 lakh, at the behest of Jamsandekar’s rivals.

Gawli challenged the conviction in HC, claiming he was implicated erroneously as the murder was carried out by those affiliated to him.

A division bench of justices BP Dharmadhikari and Swapna Joshi took note of the deposition of Gawli’s aides – Shrikrishna Gurav and Sandeep Gangan – who confirmed that Gawli had taken ₹30 lakh from Sahebrao Bintode and Balu Surve to kill Jamsandekar. The bench concluded that Gawli, along with his hired shooters, premeditated the murder and hence was guilty under MCOCA.

The court, however, acquitted four of the 11 accomplices – Vijaykumar Giri, Ashok Kumar Jaiswar, Lalman Giri and Anil Giri – from conviction under the stringent MCOCA, but found them guilty under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and retained the life imprisonment. Gawli had given the contract to kill Jamsandekar to the four. The quartet kept a watch on Jamsandekar’s movements for 15 days, after which Vijaykumar shot dead Jamsandekar from point blank range at his residence in Asalpha village in Ghatkopar.

The HC bench held that while they did not plan to kill Jamsandekar, they were guilty of murder and hence their conviction under Section 302 of the IPC was held valid.

Gawli was arrested in May 2008 and kept at the Arthur Road Prison till the charge sheet was filed. He was shifted to the Taloja jail after charges were framed under MCOCA. After his conviction by the special MCOCA court in August 2012, he was moved to the Nagpur jail, where he is expected to serve his sentence.

Gawli was granted parole in 2015 to attend his son’s wedding, as his appeal against the conviction was pending in HC. Gawli’s lawyers said they would appeal against the HC order in the Supreme Court.