Mumbai: The Bombay high court has granted bail to the PSI and police constable convicted for the custodial death of a youth, who was caught rioting at Ambedkar statue in Vadgaon, Pune, in 2014. PSI Sanjeev Patil and constable Dhanaji Patil were convicted by the Pune sessions court under section 302 of IPC. Both accused challenged the said conviction and sought bail till the appeal is decided.
Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Sarang Kotwal, while granting bail, said that prima facie, they were of the view that in case of custodial death, the burden would be on the prosecution to establish that the deceased died due to assault by the accused but here, the prosecution was shifting its responsibility to the accused.
The court also noted that the accused were behind bars for almost a period of three years and ten months, and prima facie, it found that a case under section 302 (murder) would not be made out against both accused.
The deceased Jagadish Powar, sunny was pelting stones at a city bus. Assistant police inspector Baban Shinde and Bajrang Powar caught hold of him after which he behaved arrogantly. He was later taken to police station. After registering an FIR, some witnesses informed that the condition of the deceased was deteriorating. After drafting a requisition letter, the deceased was taken to the hospital. There, on examination, he was found dead.
