A Pune court acquitted 21 workers of the Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS) accused of murdering 28-year-old Pune techie Mohsin Shaikh. Additional sessions judge S B Salunkhe, today, delivered the order of acquittal to HRS chief Dhananjay Desai and others, stating that that the evidence on record was not strong enough to convict and the prosecution was able to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

Shaikh was murdered in 2014 allegedly by HRS workers while on his way home with a friend, after offering prayers at a mosque. As per the FIR filed by his brother, Mobin Shaikh, his brother was attacked because he had a beard and was wearing a skull cap and they attacked him with hockey sticks and banged a cement block on his head. Mobin rode on another bike a little ahead, which is why he was way ahead when the mob attacked Mohsin.

Communal clashes had broken out after the circulation of objectionable pictures of Shivaji Maharaj and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on social media and Desai had allegedly made speeches instigating violence on two occasions.

In its chargesheet the cops quoted at least two witnesses, who heard HRS members plan the attack.

The chargesheet said, “The activists were carrying hockey sticks, wooden batons etc. During the meeting, they started discussing that HRS president Dhananjay Bhai has said that Muslims should be thrashed for posting derogatory pictures of Shivaji Maharaj on Facebook. Their vehicles, shops should be damaged. They should not be allowed to do any business in the area. There should be terror of HRS in Hadapsar.”

A lot has transpired since the fateful incident to this unfortunate acquittal today. Three accused: Vijay Gambhire, Ganesh Yadav and Ajay Lalge, were granted bail in 2017 after a controversial reasoning was given by a Bombay High Court judge while granting the same. While granting of bail in criminal cases is not uncommon, the grounds for the grant of the bail is what makes this case stand apart. While pinning the blame on the religious identity of the victim, Justice Mridula Bhatkar had infamously said, “The accused had no other motive such as personal enmity against the innocent deceased…[his] fault was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the accused… it appears that in the name of religion they were provoked and have committed the murder.”

In February 2018, however, the Supreme Court, unhappy with Justice Bhatkar’s remarks, cancelled the bail granted to the accused. A bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and L. Nageswara Rao further cautioned courts against passing observations “which may appear to be coloured with a bias for or against a community”. The top court maintained that courts must be “fully conscious of the plural composition of the country” and hence abide by their duty to objectively decide the rights of different groups.

By 2018, all accused, except Dhananjay Desai were out on bail.

Further, when Ujjwal Nikam was appointed as Special public prosecutor in the case at the victim’s family, the appointment was soon cancelled. The reasons for  the same were never revealed and Nikam himself refused to comment on the same. 

Then Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan provided Rs 5 Lakh compensation to the family and had even promised a government job to Mohsin’s brother which never materialized. Later, in 2018, his family was given Rs. 10 lakh compensation through a government resolution, after Mohsin’s father had filed a PIL in Bombay High Court

Waiting for ‘justice’ in the case, Mohsin’s father, Mohammed Sadiq Shaikh died in 2018 owing to heart failure.

Related:

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Mohsin Sheikh Lynching: Father dies waiting for Justice

Muslim man’s murder: India’s courts simply don’t punish hate speech with the severity it merits

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In June 2017, three years after the killing, and in a blow to an already faltering investigation  special public prosecutor and advocate Ujjwal Nikam withdrew his position as public prosecutor in the murder case of Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh, a Pune-based techie who was killed in 2014 by members of radical outfit Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS). Mohsin was attacked and killed while he was returning to his home after prayers on June 2, 2014.

The three – among 21 from the Hindu Rashtra Sena who were booked in connection with the murder – reportedly attended an “inflammatory” meeting just before they accosted and killed Shaikh. The meeting was held in the background of communal clashes in Pune. The group’s leader Dhananjay Jayram Desai was allegedly addressing the meeting that instigated the audience to violence.Hearing an appeal by the deceased’s brother against the grant of bail, the apex court directed that the three to be taken into custody, and the Bombay high court to give fresh consideration to the bail plea and to take a decision within six weeks.

The apex court stated while arriving at its decision that the religious identity cannot be an excuse to assault or murder anyone. A bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and L. Nageswara Rao further cautioned courts against passing observations “which may appear to be coloured with a bias for or against a community”.The top court maintained that courts must be “fully conscious of the plural composition of the country” and hence abide by their duty to objectively decide rights of different groups, News18 reported.

The apex court stated: “While it may be possible to understand a reference to the community of the parties involved in an assault, it is difficult to understand why it was said that ‘the fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion’…”

The Supreme Court observed that while the Bombay high court’s order may have intended to simply lay emphasis on the fact that communal hatred and not personal bias was behind the attack and may not have intended to hurt the feelings of any particular community or support the feelings of another community, “the words are clearly vulnerable to such criticism” and that “the direction cannot be sustained”.

Mohsin Shaikh was on his way to meet a friend when he was attacked by a mob of 23 on June 2, 2014, in Pune’s Hadapsar. The prosecution reasoned that the accused “targeted them because they belonged to a certain community”, and claimed that “the accused were said to have been highly motivated to do the act because they had attended a meeting of a body called Hindu Rashtra Sena about half an hour before the incident”.A fresh bail hearing in the Bombay high court is scheduled for today, February 16.

A report in Indian Express said that Justice Bhatkar on January 12, while granting bail to Vijay Rajendra Gambhire, Ganesh alias Ranjeet Shankar Yadav and Ajay Dilip Lalge, noted that the accused had attended a meeting “prior to the incident of assault. The applicants/accused otherwise had no other motive such as any personal enmity against the innocent deceased Mohsin.”

The bail order stated, “…Dhananjay Desai was the one who was the speaker in the meeting and he instigated the audience… the transcript of the speech given by Dhananjay Desai was sufficient to show that he had incited feelings of religious discrimination. The meet was held… prior to the incident of assault.”

In its chargesheet, however, the cops quoted at least two witnesses, who heard HRS members plan the attack.

The chargesheet said, “The activists were carrying hockey sticks, wooden batons etc. During the meeting, they started discussing that HRS president Dhananjay Bhai has said that Muslims should be thrashed for posting derogatory pictures of Shivaji Maharaj on Facebook. Their vehicles, shops should be damaged. They should not be allowed to do any business in the area. There should be terror of HRS in Hadapsar.”
 

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In January 2017, in a controversial decision, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to the alleged perpetrators. Advocate Ujjwal Nikam’s appointment as public prosecutor was cancelled after he made a request, although the reason behind Nikam withdrawing his appointment remains unclear. What makes the move even more surprising is that the state government did not ask for the consent from Mohsin Shaikh’s family before cancelling the appointment of Ujjwal Nikam.

The family is clueless and shocked. Advocate Hafiz Qazi who is also associated with the case said, “It is shocking for us. Ujjwal Nikam is very learned lawyer. The case made a tremendous progress under him. But requesting to remove himself as public prosecutor without no reason is more surprising.”

Commenting on how the family’s view had been ignored, Hafiz said, “State government should have consulted Mohsin’s father before cancelling the appointment, but they did not do so. That is also one thing that disturbs because he was appointed after the request from the Mohsin’s family,” added Hafiz Qazi.

Late Mohsin Shaikh’s father Sadiq Shaikh has sent a message to Ujjwal Nikam requesting reasons behind this sudden move move but he hasn’t got any response yet. Sadiq Shaikh has also written to him to get reappointed in the case. It seems Nikam is not willing to comment on this issue as several other activists-lawyers as well as Sabrangindia tried to reach him but failed. Over the issue, Sadiq Shaikh said, “I am trying to reach him since I got the notification this morning, but still I haven’t received any response from him. I do want to know what has made him to take this decision.”

According to lawyers familiar with the matter, lawyers from another radical outfit Sanatan Sanstha met Ujjwal Nikam in the past few months and tried to put pressure on him to leave the case, but this not confirmed. Sadiq Shaikh said, “We don’t know if this is truth or not. But I am surprised as to what power has came into effect which made Ujjwal Nikam change his decision?”

After Nikam’s decision, Sadiq Shaikh feels uncertain about the future. He said, “I still believe that Nikam ji will look forward to my request to represent Mohsin’s case again. I have asked him the same. But if he doesn’t agree, we will have to look towards the lawyers who could be as powerful as Ujjwal Nikam.”

Following this brutal killing, the then CM Prithviraj Chavan announced and provided Rs 5 lakh to the family as compensation and also promised to provide a government job to Mubin Shaikh, a brother of Mohsin. However, no such job was given to him by the state government citing technical flaws in offering a job to the brother of the victim.
 
 

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Mohsin’s father, Mohammad Sadiq Shaikh, released a self-made video where he is seen talking about the shortcoming of the justice process and delay made by the administration in providing the compensation and promised a job to the younger brother of Mohsin. This video was uploaded earlier this month.

In the video, Sadiq says, “It has been three years since the death of my son. And I have not received any money from the victim relief fund.”

Talking about the progression of the case Sadiq said, “The case was promised to be brought on Fast track but it has not been done yet. Nor I have got any justice.”

Then Sadiq moves into the reason behind putting up the video. He said, “My younger son is getting married by the end of April. As he has not got any job yet, we are bound to borrow money from people to fulfill the money need.”

He said, “If my son (Mohsin) was alive today, he would have been earning well and I’d not be asking any money from the victim relief fund. Eve if my younger son was employed, there would be no money crisis.”
 

Before ending the video, Sadiq said, “I request to the government of Maharashtra and government of India through this to provide me justice in this case.”

In 2014, during the aftermath of uploading of derogatory images of Chatrapati Shivaji and late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray led to the sporadic violence by right-wing activists across the Maharashtra state resulting into the destruction of public and private properties. The violence claimed the life of Shaikh resident of Solapur whereas another youth Younus Khan was left battling for his life in hospital.

Courtesy: Two Circles

Mohsin was the resident of Solapur and was working in an IT company situated in Hadapsar area of Pune who, according to the police, was assaulted by the members of Hindu Rashtra Sena when he was returning from a Mosque to his rented home in Bankar Colony, Hadapsar after offering night prayer at around 9.00 pm on Monday.

Following this brutal killing, the then CM Prithviraj Chavan announced and provided Rs 5 lakh to the family as compensation and also promised to provide a government job to Mubin Shaikh, a brother of Mohsin. However, no such job was given to him by the state government citing technical flaws in offering a job to the brother of the victim.

On September 5, 2014, a district level committee established under Central Relief Scheme held a meeting in Solapur and it found deceased family eligible for compensation of amount Rs 3 Lakh from the Central Government.

Talking with TwoCircles.net in 2016, Sadiq Shaikh told, “I keep calling Mantralaya and every time they give me different answers. Sometime Jagtap Sahib picks up the phone and says the file has gone missing while other time Govindraj Sahib says it is in progress.”
 

The juveniles were granted bail after two months of their arrest in August 2014 and three other accused – Shubnam Dattatrey Barade (19), Mahesh Maruti Khot (24) and Abhishek Chavan (29) all residents of Kalepadal near Hadapsar were granted bail by Bombay High Court in April 2016. While granted bail, the high court imposed severe conditions on the accused.

A special court in Pune rejected bail plea of Dhananjay Desai for the third time. The court also rejected his discharge application citing evidence against him establishing his role in the criminal conspiracy behind the killing of Mohsin.
 

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