Hooch deaths: No high court relief for med student

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has refused to quash proceedings against a medical student and a candidate of Ahmednagar Zilla Parishad (ZP) who has been absconding since February 2017 in a case related to serving of sub-standard liquor that led to nine deaths.

The prosecution alleged that on the day of the ZP election in February last year, the accused, Bhagyashree Govind  Mokate, who contested it, and other accused, had hosted a party where liquor had been served due to which nine people died and 13 fell ill. The police had invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused. The court while refusing to quash the proceeding said that the accused against whom MCOCA has been invoked should have made been available to the investigation agency and such attitude of the accused cannot be permitted.

A division bench of Justice R.M. Sawant and Justice Sarang Kotwal was hearing petition filed by Mokate, seeking quashing of criminal proceeding against her.

According to the prosecution, in February 2017, Mokate and the other accused were contesting election for ZP of Ahmednagar district. The accused had hosted a party for the electorate and it is alleged that liquor was served causing death of nine persons and harming 13 others. MIDC police station of Ahmednagar had registered FIR against Mokate and other accused under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison with an intent commit an offence) read with section 34 (common intention) and other sections of IPC and Maharashtra Prohibition Act.

Mokate had argued that she had no role to play in the commission of the offence and argued that MCOCA was wrongly applied against her.