The family of slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar has approached the Bombay High Court challenging acquittal of three accused in the case by the sessions court.
The appeal filed by Dabholkar’s daughter Mukta Dabholkar has also challenged the sessions court judgment by which two other accused – who were convicted in the case – were acquitted from the charges of criminal conspiracy and for commission of terrorist act under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Mukta Dabholkar appeal, filed through advocate Abhay Nevagi, stated the killing of her father was a “well-planned murder and involved a larger conspiracy”.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan issued notice to all the accused and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday. The HC has kept the matter for hearing on September 23.
The sessions court had failed to appreciate the fact that the convicted accused in the case were members of right wing group Sanatan Sanstha and that even the three acquitted accused are associated with the outfit too, the plea contended. “The accused persons hatched this conspiracy to eliminate Dr. Narendra Dabolkar, who was expressing his views against Sanatan Sanstha Establishment, Hindu Jan Jagaran Samiti and other similar organisations,” it alleged.
The appeal contended that the sessions court had erred in holding that there was no evidence to convict the two accused on the charge of criminal conspiracy and that the provision of the UAPA was not applicable as sanction was not valid. “The Sessions Court has failed to consider that there is sufficient material produced in record by the investigation agencies which establishes beyond reasonable doubt that all the accused were involved in hatching criminal committing murder of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar,” it added.
The sanction to prosecute the accused under UAPA was duly received by the investigating agency and there was nothing on record to suggest that there was any illegality in grant of sanction, the appeal added.
The sessions court on May 10, convicted Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar for Dabholkar’s murder and sentenced them to life in prison. The sessions court, however, acquitted them from the charges of criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code, under section 16 (terrorist act) of the UAPA and the Arms Act. The appeal has challenged their acquittal under the UAPA.
The sessions court had acquitted Virendra Singh Tawde, Sanjiv Punalekar and Vikram Bhave from the case. This too has been challenged by Mukta Dabholkar.
On February 16, 2015, Pansare (82) and his wife Uma were returning home from their morning walk in the Samrat Nagar area of Kolhapur when two bike-borne men fired multiple rounds at them before fleeing. Pansare succumbed to his injuries on February 20, 2015, while under treatment at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. His wife survived the attack after receiving treatment in the hospital.
After the initial investigation by the local police, the case was handed over to a special investigation team (SIT), which arrested the first accused on September 15, 2015.
Dabholkar’s murder was the first in a chain of similar killings of three other rationalists and activists – Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February 2015, Kannada-language scholar MM Kalburgi in Dharwad in August 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017.
