Bhima-koregaon, Maratha march: 391 cases to be revoked

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has recommended the withdrawal of 117 cases registered during the Maratha morchas in the state and 274 cases registered in the Bhima-koregaon violence. The Maratha morchas were held in 2016 and the Bhima-koregaon incident happened earlier this year.

Minister of state for home, Deepak Kesarkar, informed the legislative council of the decision on Monday, while responding to a calling attention motion by member of legislative council Gopikishan Bajoria regarding the delay in withdrawal of political cases in certain districts of Maharashtra.

Kesarkar said that a government-appointed committee had set the criteria for withdrawal of the cases. The criteria are that the case should not involve an assault on police or government servant and the loss of property in the case should not exceed ₹5 lakh.

“The limit for the public property damage criterion has been increased to ₹10 lakh for these two cases. The committee is scrutinising the cases and eligible cases will be withdrawn,” Kesarkar said.

Currently, the government can withdraw cases only if a charge sheet has been filed, said Kesarkar. “We will take legal opinion to find out whether cases can be withdrawn at the time of the investigation itself to avoid wasting time and expedite the process,” he said.

He added that a circular will be issued asking all guardian ministers to review the process. A committee will be created under the additional secretary (home) for this purpose.