Drama in court as sentences read out

Rebecca Samervel & S Ahmed Ali | TNN

    The sessions court on Friday granted the convicts six weeks to file their appeal before the Bombay High Court. The accused were fined a total of around Rs 10 lakh, while Sharma’s release was directed against a security of Rs 10,000 to be furnished within four weeks.
    Judge Jadhavar, who started pronouncing the sentences at 3 pm, first called out Pradeep Sharma’s name and said, “Accused number one is acquitted of all charges.”
    Sharma, however, told TOI that in view of “the lobby” working against him, he would not want to rejoin the police force. “I had enough humiliation at police stations and at various jails, hospitals and court. Even if I fight a legal battle and come back, this lobby won’t allow me to work peacefully. I had enough experience serving in the force. Now I want to relax and give time to my family,” he said.
    Considerable drama was witnessed in court before and after the judge pronounced the sentences. Before commencement of proceedings, convicted police constable Tanaji Desai requested the court to allow him to talk for two minutes.
    “I have worked sincerely for 20 years and don’t want the police morale to go down because of this [verdict]. If there were no people like Vijay Salaskar (slain senior police inspector and encounter specialist) and Pradeep Sharma, Mumbai would be in danger. Gupta had committed several murders. His brother is a criminal lawyer. He had the power to save him but he did not. We have become victims of a gangster,” Desai said.
    The reference to Lakhan Bhaiya’s brother, Ramprasad Gupta, was because it was he who had filed a writ petition in this case.
    The court directed Desai to refrain from getting personal and later told him that nothing he said would be taken on record.
    After the sentencing, police constable Sandip Sardar’s wife charged into the courtroom and said she wanted to address the court. When asked to calm down, she screamed, “Only I will talk and everyone else will keep quiet.”
    Joined by the families of other convicts, she said, “Punish me too. My husband is innocent. We thought you are our God and had faith in the legal system. But this is a very wrong judgement. If you are going to punish our husbands, you will have to punish us too. I want death. We will also die and you will be responsible. For one person, you will destroy 21 families.”
    Reacting to the outburst, the judge said, “I have heard you. But just as they have done their duty, so have I.”
    Janardhan Bhanange, who had allegedly hatched the plot to kill Lakhan Bhaiya, was brought to the court on a stretcher. He told the court he had nothing to do with the encounter. “I have been in this [handicapped] state for several years now,” he said. His lawyer filed an application saying he still needed to be in hospital.
PRADEEP SHARMA’S ACQUITTAL Prime accused Sharma was acquitted for lack of direct evidence against him, except for the ballistic report which stated that one of the five bullets shot at Gupta belonged to Sharma’s licensed weapon. Sharma’s lawyer argued the ballistic report was fabricated and none of the eyewitnesses gave statements against him
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF WITNESS ANIL BHEDA Anil Bheda, a key witness and whistleblower in the case, was mysteriously killed. His remains were found in the Manor jungles. The state CID, which investigated the case, failed to make any progress in the case, though the needle of suspicion fell on the policemen
THE ROAD AHEAD While the SIT will appeal against the acquittal of Pradeep Sharma, the rest of those convicted will appeal before the Bombay High Court. The state will also file an enhancement of sentence of the 13 accused given the life sentence. The prosecution had sought the death sentence against them. None of them will be able to join the force except Sharma. The MAT had set aside Sharma’s dismissal but the state went in appeal in the high court. The matter is still pending
    I have worked
    sincerely for 20 years. If there were no people like Vijay Salaskar (slain senior inspector and encounter specialist) and Pradeep Sharma, Mumbai would be in danger. Gupta has committed several murders. His brother is a criminal lawyer. We have become victims of a gangster
Tanaji Desai | CONVICTED CONSTABLE
I will definitely file an appeal in the Bombay High Court. The prosecution has too many questions to answer. They suppressed a lot of evidence before the court. In fact, two accused named in the initial FIR have not even been named in SIT’s investigation. I am a victim of this system
Pradeep Suryawanshi
I am satisfied that the encounter was proved fake. We will file an appeal against the acquittal of Pradeep Sharma and seek enhancement of charges against 13 convicts for whom we had sought the death sentence. I have spent the past seven years on this case and drained my resources. I have had to go against my family’s wishes to pursue it
Ramprasad Gupta | LAKHAN BHAIYA’S BROTHER AND ADVOCATE
I have come out clean purely on merit. But will anybody probe why I was fixed? Will they return the three and half years I spent in jail because of which my family had to suffer?
Pradeep Sharma | ACQUITTED DISMISSED COP
I don’t have any reason to rejoice or be saddened. I lost my husband. I don’t want to say anything on the case
Anil Bheda’s wife COURT SPEAK
    Reacting
    to the cries of the convicted cops’ families, the judge said, ‘ I have heard you. Just as they have done their duties, so have I’

Acquitted former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma outside the court