Thane, Jul 3 A court in Maharashtra's Thane district convicted a 30-year-old man accused of assaulting a cop inside a police station, but chose to release him on a good behaviour bond, noting that he had not indulged in criminal activities since the 2018 incident.
Additional Sessions Judge Mahesh S Lone on Thursday also acquitted two co-accused in the case, citing a lack of "clinching evidence" connecting them to the crime.
The main accused, Aakash Lakshman Kavade, a resident of Wagle Estate, was found guilty under sections 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant), 504 (intentional insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
As per the case details, the incident occurred on October 14, 2018, when Constable Manoj Bhimrao Sapkal of the Shreenagar police station was interrogating a youth detained for creating a ruckus at an event.
The prosecution alleged that Kavade and the other accused entered the cop's room, began a heated argument demanding the youth's release, and threatened to record a video to make it viral. When Sapkal attempted to intervene, Kavade allegedly verbally abused him and pushed him to the ground while fleeing, and injured him.
During the trial, the defence argued that the case was fabricated, pointing out that the police had failed to produce the police station's CCTV footage, which they claimed would have exposed police high-handedness.
Judge Lone noted that the prosecution had successfully established the primary charges against the accused.
The prosecution strongly opposed any leniency, arguing that a strict penalty was necessary to deter a rising societal trend of citizens confronting policemen and recording videos.
The court, however, took a reformative stance given the prolonged delay in the judicial process.
The court noted that it had been seven years since the incident and during this period, there was nothing on record to show that the accused had indulged in any criminal activities.
"Taking into consideration the family background of the accused and that during these seven years he has not committed any offence, I am inclined to grant him the benefit of Section 4 of the Probation of Offenders Act, and instead of sentencing him, he can be released on executing good behaviour bond for the period of one year..."
Kavade was released upon entering a bond of good behaviour of Rs 15,000. The court further directed that he remain under the direct supervision of the District Probation Officer, Thane, for the next one year, warning that any breach of the bond's conditions would render him liable to receive a formal prison sentence.
