Bail plea of Dawood aide rejected
In a setback to a close aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, Bombay High Court recently turned down his bail plea. The accused was convicted by a lower court for killing a security guard of a Marine Lines-based builder.
The convict — Pravin Mishra alias Sachin — had petitioned the Division Bench presided over by Justice Ranjit More and Justice Anuja Prabhudesai. He had approached the Bench challenging his conviction and had sought suspension of the sentence imposed by the lower court. He had also sought bail pending the final hearing of his appeal.
In May 2016, a lower court sentenced Mishra to five years’ rigorous imprisonment on charges of murder and other sections invoked against him under the Arms Act and Bombay Police Act.
In February 2011, Mishra along with one of his associates went to the office of renowned builder Manish Dholakia. He then enquired with the receptionist if Dholakia was there in office and the receptionist asked him to sit in the lobby. However, he refused to sit and during this time, the receptionist had seen a pistol tucked in back pocket of one of the accused. She accordingly alarmed other staff members, after which Mishra and his associate ran out of the office.
Dholakia’s security guard, Ajit Yerunkar, chased these gangsters and tried to catch hold of Mishra but the latter fired at him. Yerunkar was rushed to a nearby hospital that declared him dead.
Senior counsel Shirish Gupte, appearing for Mishra, argued that the identification parade was not conducted in a proper manner. He also argued that the ‘it would not be safe’ to rely on the identification parade.
After hearing the submissions advanced, Justice More said, “From the statements of the prosecution witnesses, who identified the applicant (Mishra), it reveals that they had enough time to see the accused and therefore could identify the accused in the test identification parade as well as in court.” “The identification of the applicant by the witnesses cannot be discarded at this stage,” Justice More said while rejecting the application seeking bail.
Senior counsel Shirish Gupte appearing for Pravin Mishra alias Sachin argued that the identification parade was not conducted in a proper manner. He also argued that the ‘it would not be safe’ to rely on the identification parade