Palghar lynching case: Bombay HC grants bail to 10 accused, rejects pleas of 8 others

The High Court on Friday granted bail to 10 tribals accused in the 2020 Palghar lynching case while denying relief to eight others.

The Bombay High Court has granted bail to 10 tribals in the Palghar lynching case of April 2020 where three people, including two sadhus, died in the incident.

The court, however, refused to grant bail to eight accused who were seen hitting the victims. The high court said that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report, matching images of the accused in CCTV footage, is at present sufficient to implicate the accused.Bail was granted to Mohan Gavit, Ishwar Nikole, Feroj Sathe, Raju Gurud, Vijay Pilena, Disha Pilena, Dipak Grud, Sitaram Rathod, Vijay Gurud, and Ratna Bhawar.

While granting the bail, Justice Bharati Dangre reasoned that there was 'no overt act' that could be attributed to the 10 accused. However, with regard to the eight others accused, Justice Dangre said that the accused were, "identified in the CCTV footage and the evidence compiled on the charge-sheet is to the effect" that the accused are "members of the unlawful assembly, gathered on the spot, despite the prohibitory orders issued by the Collector on account of the pandemic situation."With this, the court proceeded to allow the bail plea of the 10 tribals. "Considering the role attributed to the accused, which was of their presence and being armed with a weapon, but since no overt act is attributed to them, nor is there any recovery from them, they deserve to be released on bail," said Justice Dangre.The accused whose bail was rejected were Rajesh Rao, Ramdas Rao, Bhau Sathe, Havasa Sathe, Rajal gurud, Mahesh gurud, Lahanya valakar, Sandesh gurud.Justice Dangre, while rejecting the plea of Rajesh and Ramdas Rao, said that the "positive evidence which is collated against the Raos from the CCTV footage which was collected and the witnesses were confronted with the said footage by drawing a panchnama and, since Raos are specifically identified by the witnesses, their roles have clearly surfaced in the charge-sheet. The still photographs of the applicants, which were obtained from the CCTV footage, were forwarded to the FSL and it is reported that the actual photographs of the accused match with the photographs taken from the CCTV footage."Adding further, Justice Dangre said, "Both the accused have played an active role and participated in the incident by pelting stones at the deceased. Rajesh Rao brutally assaulted the deceased Kapavriksha Giri Maharaj with a stick and this specific role has come on record on the basis of the panchanama. Considering the gravity of the accusations faced by the accused, their application is rejected."The accused who were granted bail have been told to attend trial regularly and were asked to execute personal bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 and furnish one or two sureties in the like amount.