Bombay High Court Grants Parole To POCSO Convict To Construct New House After Old One Demolished For Navi Mumbai Airport Project

The Bombay High Court recently granted 25 days parole to a man convicted under the stringent Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, for constructing a new house, after his previous home was demolished by the Maharashtra Government following acquisition of the land parcel (on which his house stood) for the Navi Mumbai International Airport. Sitting at the Nagpur seat, a division bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Justice Nivedita Mehta noted that the convict Pradeep Gaikwad has already spent more than nine years in jail and also that despite his house being demolished, he was yet to get the compensation from the State. "Even the respondent authorities do not dispute that the house of the petitioner is already demolished in a process of acquisition. The ground raised by the petitioner that he was not awarded with the compensation, though a different issue, but now the petitioner wants to construct a house at new place. From the record, it is apparent that the petitioner and his mother was residing in the earlier house, which was already demolished. The ground raised by the petitioner that his son is also not well, which also requires some consideration. Moreover, there is no complaint of misconduct when he was earlier released on parole," the judges noted. Notably, Gaikwad was convicted by a court in Panvel, Navi Mumbai under charges of POCSO and some provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and was sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment. However, when he challenged the same before the High Court, the punishment was reduced to 10 years. The bench noted that since 2021, Gaikwad filed multiple petitions before the High Court, seeking parole but he was permitted to be released only in 2024 that too after the High Court's intervention and was released for 40 days then. "Considering the earlier history of the petitioner, who have on several occasions required to file applications, which were not considered by the authorities despite the directions given by this Court and he was constrained to run from pillar to post on many occasions, the petition deserves to be allowed. Taking into consideration the factual position as well as also the legal provisions, we are inclined to grant petitioner a parole for 25 days from the date of his release on the condition that petitioner should furnish personal bond of Rs. 25,000 with one surety in the like amount and to give undertaking it that the petitioner would surrender to serve remaining sentence on or before due date," the judges ordered. With these observations, the bench disposed of the plea. Appearance:Advocate IV Tambi appeared for the Petitioner. Additional Public Prosecutor AB Badar represented the State. Case Title: Pradeep Rambhau Gaikwad vs State of Maharashtra (Criminal Writ Petition 166 of 2026)Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom)Click Here To Read/Download Judgment

Bombay High Court Grants Parole To POCSO Convict To Construct New House After Old One Demolished For Navi Mumbai Airport Project

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Bombay High Court Grants Parole To POCSO Convict To Construct New House After Old One Demolished For Navi Mumbai Airport Project

Narsi Benwal

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