Mumbai/Pune, Jun 20, 9:18PM A special CBI court here on Saturday acquitted former Maharashtra home minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver, citing "serious lapses and omissions in the investigation" and holding that a political rivalry itself was not the proof of participation in a criminal conspiracy.
The verdict in the high-profile case prompted Nimbalkar's son and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar to ask 'who killed my father then', even as the Central Bureau of Investigation said it will challenge the acquittal before the Bombay High Court.
The prosecution heavily relied on the testimony of accused-turned-approver Parasmal Jain. But special CBI court judge Satyanarayan Navandar held that his testimony was completely unreliable. The judge also came down heavily on the CBI for failing to gather crucial digital evidence, such as the mobile phones or call detail records (CDRs) of the accused.
Approver Jain had been kept in illegal custody by the police for a significant period, the court noted, adding that there were so many contradictions in his statements that it led to the collapse of the prosecution's entire story.
Padamsinh Patil (now 85), a former MP of the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and stepbrother of current Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, and seven other accused faced the murder trial.
On June 3, 2006, Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver, Samad Kazi, were on their way from Mumbai to Osmanabad (now Dharashiv) when two hitmen intercepted the car at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai and opened fire, killing both on the spot. The Navi Mumbai police initially probed the case, but the High Court later transferred it to the CBI after Nimbalkar's wife expressed dissatisfaction over the progress.
Patil was arrested in June 2009 after the central probe agency took over, but a sessions court granted him bail in September 2009.
Criticising the probe, the special court said that "the matters which were capable of objective verification were either not investigated with the required diligence, or were left unsupported by reliable documentary evidence." A serious and heinous crime may ultimately remain unpunished, but a person can not be convicted on the basis of dubious evidence, the judge said.
Parasmal Jain, who turned approver in the case, was not "a witness worthy of credit", and his testimony suffered from "serious infirmities, material contradictions, substantial improvements, inherent improbabilities and lack of independent corroboration," the court said.
The CBI's case was that political rivalry post-2002 soured relations between Pati and Nimbalkar. In 2002, activist Anna Hazare had leveled allegations of corruption against Patil regarding a "sugarcane scam", leading to the latter resigning as a minister. The bitter feud with Nimbalkar prompted Patil to orchestrate his killing, the CBI alleged.
Parasmal Jain had initially accepted the contract of Rs 30 lakh from co-accused Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade to kill Pawanraje Nimbalkar, the CBI claimed.
The court held that bitter rivalry is "not unseen or rare in politics", but "proof of motive by itself is not proof of conspiracy or participation in the offence...the prosecution must still prove, by reliable and independent evidence, that the accused acted upon that motive and participated in the alleged conspiracy or offence."
Further, the court noted that Jain was granted pardon 13 years after charges were initially framed, after the accused's final submissions had been recorded, and introducing an approver's testimony at the very end of a trial raises grave suspicions of manipulation.
"If evidence of an approver is recorded after completion of entire evidence of prosecution, then there is every possibility of manipulation of the facts, improvements and alterations in the testimony to establish the missing links," the court stated.
Besides Patil, the other accused were Latur-based businessman Satish Mandade, retired state excise inspector Mohan Shukla, Dinesh Tiwari, Mahatam Chaudhary alias Pintu Chaudhary, Kailash Yadav, Gyanendra Pandey alias Dhirendra Pandey alias Chhote Pandey and Shashikant Kulkarni. All of them were acquitted.
The trial began in July 2011. During the 15-year-long trial, the court examined 128 witnesses, including Anna Hazare. Jain had confessed that Patil had simultaneously given a contract to eliminate the activist. Hazare testified about receiving threats from Patil.
A CBI spokespersons said in Delhi that the agency had presented strong evidence against the accused, and it will challenge the judgement before the high court.
Reacting to the verdict, MP Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar alleged that the police, who conducted the probe initially, were under pressure from Padamsinh Patil, a former home minister.
"The CBI carried out a thorough investigation. Once we receive and study the written judgment, we will certainly approach the high court. The only question my family has is: if all the accused have been acquitted, who killed Pawanraje?" the Dharashiv MP said.
"For 20 years, we attended every hearing and pursued the legal battle with the expectation that the guilty would be punished," he added.
Notably, Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar is among the six 'rebel' Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs who are said to be ready to cross over to the rival Shiv Sena led by deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said earlier this week that Omprakash Raje had been told that he would have to switch sides for a favourable verdict in his father's murder, a claim the latter denied.
Mumbai, Jun 20, 6:39PM A special court here on Saturday acquitted former Maharashtra home minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar as well as his driver, saying the prosecution failed to prove the chain of conspiracy.
It also said the testimony of the prosecution's prime witness was unreliable as there were contradictions in his statements.
The court came down heavily on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the case, for failing to gather crucial digital evidence, such as the mobile phones or call detail records (CDRs) of the accused in such a high profile murder case.
Holding that the chain of conspiracy was not proven, special CBI court judge Satyanarayan Navandar acquitted all eight accused in the case.
The judge started reading out the verdict by remarking that it was a deeply tragic incident, and said the court can only deliver a judgment within the framework of the law.
The prosecution had heavily relied primarily on the testimony of the accused-turned-approver Parasmal Jain's testimony. However, the court found his testimony doubtful and discarded it.
The chain of circumstantial evidence is not complete. The prosecution tried to thread it with the testimony of approver, but the thread itself was so weak, the court said.
The judge found his evidence to be completely unreliable.
He had been kept in illegal custody by the police for a significant period. There were so many contradictions in his statements that led to the collapse of the prosecution's entire story, the court said.
The judge criticised the prosecution for recording approver's evidence in a "mechanical manner" and not making an effort to bring all the details on record.
Patil (85), a former MP of the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and stepbrother of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, and seven other accused faced the murder trial.
Pawanraje Nimbalkar's son Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar is currently a Lok Sabha member from the Shiv Sena (UBT).
On June 3, 2006, Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver, Samad Kazi, were on their way from Mumbai to Osmanabad (now Dharashiv). Two hitmen intercepted their car at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai and opened fire, killing both on the spot.
The Navi Mumbai police initially probed the case, but the Bombay High Court later transferred it to the CBI after Pawanraje Nimbalkar's wife expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the investigation.
Patil was arrested in June 2009 after the central probe agency took over the case, but a sessions court in Alibaug in Raigad district granted him bail in September that year.
Besides Patil, the other accused in the case included a Latur based businessman Satish Mandade, a retired state excise inspector Mohan Shukla and others -- Dinesh Tiwari, Mahatam Chaudhary alias Pintu Chaudhary, Kailash Yadav, Gyanendra Pandey alias Dhirendra Pandey alias Chhote Pandey, and Shashikant Kulkarni.
According to the CBI, Patil, the prime accused in the case, is alleged to have hatched the criminal conspiracy and paid the contract money to eliminate his cousin Pawanraje Nimbalkar due to intense political and business rivalry.
The prosecution alleged that Parasmal Jain had initially accepted the contract of Rs 30 lakh from Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade to kill Pawanraje Nimbalkar. He was later granted a pardon and turned approver against the other accused.
The case trial began in July 2011. During the 15-year-long trial, the special court examined as many as 128 witnesses, including anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
Hazare's name came up in the case after Jain's confession that Patil had simultaneously given a contract to eliminate the activist.
The activist had testified about receiving threats from Patil.
After the verdict was announced, Padamsinh Patil's son Ranajagjitsinh Patil, who is BJP MLA from Tuljapur in Dharashiv district, said his father was suffering from various age-related ailments and was not told about the verdict on Saturday.
They had told the former MP that he was being taken to court to mark his attendance, he said.
The victims' side lawyer said that injustice has been done and they will file an appeal before the high court.
The CBI said it will move the Bombay High Court against the acquittal of the accused.
Mumbai, Jun 20, 1:38PM A special court here on Saturday acquitted former Maharashtra home minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder case of Maharashtra Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver.
Special CBI court judge Satyanaryan Navandar said the prosecution failed to prove the chain of conspiracy.
The prosecution primarily relied on the testimony of the accused-turned-approver Parasmal Jain. However, the court found his testimony doubtful and discarded it, saying it did not prove the chain of events.
Patil, a former NCP MP and stepbrother of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, and seven other accused faced the murder trial.
Pawanraje Nimbalkar's son Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar is currently a Lok Sabha member from the Shiv Sena (UBT).
On June 3, 2006, Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver, Samad Kazi, were on their way from Mumbai to Osmanabad (now Dharashiv), when two hitmen intercepted their car at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai and opened fire, killing both of them on the spot.
The Navi Mumbai police initially probed the case, but the Bombay High Court later transferred it to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after Pawanraje Nimbalkar's wife expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the investigation.
Patil was arrested in June 2009 after the central probe agency took over the case. However, a sessions court in Alibaug (Raigad district) granted him bail in September that year.
Besides Patil, the other accused in the case include Latur-based businessman Satish Mandade, retired state excise inspector Mohan Shukla and the shooters.
As per the CBI, Patil, the prime accused in the case, is alleged to have hatched the criminal conspiracy and paid the contract money to eliminate his cousin Pawanraje Nimbalkar due to intense political and business rivalry.
The prosecution alleged that Parasmal Jain initially accepted the contract of Rs 30 lakh from Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade to kill Pawanraje Nimbalkar. He was later granted a pardon and turned approver against the other accused.
The case trial began in July 2011. During the 15-year-long trial, the special court examined as many as 128 witnesses, including anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
Hazare's name came up in the case after Jain's confession that Patil had simultaneously given a contract to eliminate the activist.
Hazare had testified about receiving threats from Patil.
