1 day Ago By Asseem Shaikh
1 2 3 Pune: The court of additional sessions judge A L Tikle granted bail to 10 people, including a woman, arrested in the March 9 protest by NCP (SP) workers on the Metro rail tracks near the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) station. In the order, Judge Tikle observed that the provision of Section 74 of the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act was not applicable against the accused because it was related to maliciously wrecking a train causing sabotage, which is punishable by a death sentence or life imprisonment. Such acts always endanger the lives of passengers, but this was not the case in the instant incident, the judge observed.
The judge stated that relying solely on Section 79 (dealing with endangering the safety of persons travelling by Metro railway by rash or negligent act or omission) of the Act wasn't sufficient, as it was arguable, and the prosecution hadn't pursued charges for attemptedmurder. The court ordered the release of the accused on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each with one or two sureties of the like amount. They were told to mark attendance at the Shivajinagar police station every Monday between 9am and 2pm.
Defence lawyers Sunny Gandhi, Sachin Zalte-Patil, and Rajendra Sonawale, representing the 10 accused, argued that Section 74 of the Act was not applicable because no one was seriously injured in the incident. The lawyers submitted that Section 79 of the Act was wrongly invoked and pleaded to release their clients on bail. Public prosecutors Pramod Bombatkar and Pradeep Gehlot opposed the bail pleas stating that the protesters disrupted Metro services for two hours, inconveniencing commuters.
Earlier, the sessions court granted bail to eight women workers on March 23. Pune: The court of additional sessions judge A L Tikle granted bail to 10 people, including a woman, arrested in the March 9 protest by NCP (SP) workers on the Metro rail tracks near the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) station. In the order, Judge Tikle observed that the provision of Section 74 of the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act was not applicable against the accused because it was related to maliciously wrecking a train causing sabotage, which is punishable by a death sentence or life imprisonment.
Such acts always endanger the lives of passengers, but this was not the case in the instant incident, the judge observed. The judge stated that relying solely on Section 79 (dealing with endangering the safety of persons travelling by Metro railway by rash or negligent act or omission) of the Act wasn't sufficient, as it was arguable, and the prosecution hadn't pursued charges for attemptedmurder. The court ordered the release of the accused on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each with one or two sureties of the like amount.
They were told to mark attendance at the Shivajinagar police station every Monday between 9am and 2pm. Defence lawyers Sunny Gandhi, Sachin Zalte-Patil, and Rajendra Sonawale, representing the 10 accused, argued that Section 74 of the Act was not applicable because no one was seriously injured in the incident. The lawyers submitted that Section 79 of the Act was wrongly invoked and pleaded to release their clients on bail.
Public prosecutors Pramod Bombatkar and Pradeep Gehlot opposed the bail pleas stating that the protesters disrupted Metro services for two hours, inconveniencing commuters. Earlier, the sessions court granted bail to eight women workers on March 23..
