Bombay High Court Refuses To Quash MCOCA Case Against 2 Developers Accused Of Conspiring With Gangster Ravi Pujari To Commit Extortion

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (June 9) refused to quash a Chargesheet under MCOCA filed against two developers accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy with gangster Ravi Pujari for threatening a fellow developer and extorting money from him over a pending litigation regarding a land parcel in city's posh Powai area. A division bench of Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Ranjitsinha Bhonsale dismissed the plea filed by Rajan Sujanani and Kishore Vatnani both challenging the chargesheet filed against them particularly the invocation of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) for being 'linked' to the Ravi Pujari gang. "We are of the view that, from a perusal of the statements of the various witnesses, the complaint and transcripts it can be safely inferred on a prima facie basis that the Petitioners along with other accused, indulged in the unlawful activities with the objective of gaining pecuniary benefits, or gaining undue economic or other advantage and committed an act of extortion," the bench said in the order. The case dates back to September 2013, when another developer Kamal Sheth, alleged that he was being threatened by Sujanani and Vatnani along with others after they locked horns over a land parcel, owned by Sujanani in Powai. They said land was sold earlier to Sheth, who failed to repay the entire amount of consideration and thus, as per the FIR, Sujanani made him to speak to Pujari over a 'conference call', who threatened and abused the complainant Sheth for not making the pending payment. Further, Sheth alleged that he received calls from various international numbers one of which he answered was by Pujari himself again issuing threats and demanding money. Rest other calls, the complainant did not answer. Sheth reported about the extortion calls to the Mumbai Police, which probed the case and initially filed an 'A Summary' report, however, Sheth filed a protest petition and the trial court ordered further investigation in the case. In the meantime, Pujari was extradited to India from Senegal and the police carried out a further investigation and this time, various witnesses, who earlier did not testify against the gang, now gave material statements against Sujanani, Vatnani and the entire Pujari syndicate. While the petitioners objected to the prosecution and invocation of the MCOCA citing the delay of nearly a decade, Additional Public Prosecutor Ashish Satpute for the State argued that there was no malice or malafide that could be attributed to the prosecution and he also 'explained' the delay in the prosecution and the invocation of the MCOCA."We find that, the explanation for the delay, offered by the witnesses is that, due to the terror and fright, of gangster Ravi Pujari and Parshuram Shinde, the witnesses had not mentioned any details in the statements recorded, before the 'A Summary' was filed. The witnesses have specifically stated that, after the arrest of gangster Ravi Pujari and after the death of Parshuram Shinde, the witnesses had the courage to give the statement. We are of the opinion that, the explanation for delay is reasonable, plausible and reflects the conduct of a common and ordinary person," the bench recorded. Further, the bench agreed with the prosecution and held that there was proper application of mind by the competent authority in granting a prior approval to the sanction for invoking MCOCA. "The present crime was committed to terrorise Sheth and other businessmen in the society for gaining pecuniary benefits for continuing the nefarious and illegal activities of the organised crime syndicate. In our view, the prior approval and sanction as required under section 23 of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act 1999 has been correctly granted against Kishore Vatnani, Rajan Sujanani, Hari Ramnani, Bali, Madhu Nimya, Ravi Pujari and his associates and the same is based on material and evidence collected during the investigation," the bench held. As regards the grounds of maladies are concerned, the bench noted the same are based primarily on the ground of delay in invoking the provision of MCOCA. "According to us, on considering the initial complaint, the witness statements as recorded and the transcripts, we find that there is prima facie material on record to make out at least a prima facie case against Rajan Sujanani, Kishor Vatanani, Hari Ramnani, Ravi Pujari and his associates, Bali and Madhu Nimya. From the record, we have not found any material in support of the allegation of malafides or malicious prosecution," the bench said. In its 89-page order, the bench, however, granted relief to one Mangesh Sawant, who was named as an accused in the case after noting that Sheth in his initial FIR has not stated if Ravi Pujari mentioned Sawant's name in the extortion calls. The judges, therefore, held that the sanction to prosecute him under the MCOCA was misplaced and quashed the proceedings against him. With these observations the bench dismissed...

Bombay High Court Refuses To Quash MCOCA Case Against 2 Developers Accused Of Conspiring With Gangster Ravi Pujari To Commit Extortion

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Narsi Benwal

Bombay High Court Refuses To Quash MCOCA Case Against 2 Developers Accused Of Conspiring With Gangster Ravi Pujari To Commit Extortion

Narsi Benwal

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Narsi Benwal

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