Mumbai, Sep 1 Anandidevi Nimbalkar, mother of Shiv Sena MP Omraje Nimbalkar and widow of Pawanraje Nimbalkar, has moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the acquittal of former Maharashtra minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 killing of her husband.
A bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata on Tuesday issued notice to Patil and the others acquitted in the case.
Anandidevi Nimbalkar, who is the original complainant in the case, in her appeal in HC said the sessions court had erred in its verdict acquitting all the accused and had failed to appreciate the prosecution evidence.
The appeal sought HC to set aside the acquittal order and convict the accused.
On June 3, 2006, Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Kazi were on their way from Mumbai to Osmanabad (now Dharashiv).
Two men 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 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after Anandidevi expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the investigation.
Patil was arrested in June 2009 after the Central probe agency took over the case. A sessions court in Alibaug granted him bail in September that year.
Besides Patil, the other accused in the case included Latur-based businessman Satish Mandade, retired state excise inspector Mohan Shukla and the alleged shooters.
According to the CBI, political rivalry post-2002 over financial irregularities in a cooperative bank and a sugar factory had soured relations between Patil (now 85) and Nimbalkar.
On June 20 of this year, a sessions court here acquitted the accused citing lack of reliable and cogent evidence beyond reasonable doubt.
The court had highlighted that there were “several serious lapses and omissions in the investigation".
The case suffered from a casual and incomplete approach in relation to several vital aspects, the court had remarked.
