Bombay HC orders premature release of Arun Gawli
The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday ordered the premature release of former mafia don and gangsterturnedpolitician Arun Gulab Gawli. He is currently serving life imprisonment in Nagpur Central Jail.
A Division Bench of judges, comprising Justice Vinay Joshi and Justice Vrushali Joshi, have allowed the criminal repetition filed by Gawli challenging rejection of his claim to be released prematurely in view of a government notification dated January 10, 2006.
His advocate Mir Nagman Ali told The Hindu, “The application was rejected by the respondents on the count that the State government had come up with a fresh notification dated December 1, 2015, by which a convict under the MCOCA Act was held entitled to the benefit of said policy decision.”
Mr. Ali had argued that Gawli would be entitled to benefit from the 2006 notification since he was convicted in 2009, and therefore, a subsequent notification which had come into force in 2015 would not have any applicability to Gawli.
The State had registered the petition filed by Gawli on the ground that the 2015 notification specifically excluded the convict under the MCOCA Act from benefit of said policy. It further submitted that the 2006 notification makes it clear that convicts under the NDPS Act, the TADA, the MPDA, etc are not entitled to the benefit of the policy.
“It was further contended that the terminology that is used is etc, and therefore even conviction under the MCOCA Act would not be entitled to benefit of 2006 policy by taking resort to rule of ejusdem generis,” Mr. Ali said.
After hearing the advocates, the Division Bench pronounced the judgment that Gawli would be entitled to the benefit of the 2006 policy and he cannot be excluded from the same by resorting to rule of ejusdem generis. The State has been directed to decide on his release within four weeks from the date of order.