The Supreme Court, while hearing a bail plea in the 2017 Bhiwandi Congress corporator murder case, remarked that people today are unwilling to stand for the truth due to the deteriorating character of society.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said that people are no longer ready to stand up for the truth due to the “deteriorating character of society.”
The court made this remark while hearing a bail application filed by Prashant Bhaskar Mahatre, the main accused and alleged conspirator in the 2017 Bhiwandi Congress corporator murder case.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh questioned the Maharashtra government for relying on a large number of oral testimonies in the case. The government plans to examine 75 out of the 200 witnesses listed in the chargesheet.
“Due to the deteriorating character of society, people nowadays are not ready to stand for truth. Why are you relying on the testimonies of so many witnesses? Yes, there is a threat of gangsters pressuring the witnesses, who later turn hostile as unfortunately there is no witness protection programme in this country,” the bench said.
The court asked the state’s lawyer to submit a list of crucial witnesses they intend to rely on to prove the charges against the accused. The bench also stated that it would fix a timeline for a speedy trial once this list is provided.
The state’s counsel informed the court that during the Bombay High Court hearing of Mahatre’s bail plea, 14 witnesses had been examined, out of which 10 had turned hostile. This raised serious concerns for the bench about the reliability of oral testimonies in a trial where witness intimidation might be a factor.
The court also questioned the state about Mahatre’s past criminal record. In response, the counsel submitted that Mahatre had been booked in over a dozen criminal cases.
However, Mahatre’s defence lawyer told the court that he had been acquitted in several of these cases and requested that he be granted bail, as he has already spent more than seven years in jail since 2017.
In response, the bench said:
“Don’t expect a miracle from here. We just wanted your trial to be expedited. We want the society to be in peace. If you come out of jail, a lot of people will get sleepless nights.”
Justice Surya Kant added:
“The court was not monitoring the case in technical terms but supervising it, so that trial is expedited in the case.”
Earlier, on February 7, the Bombay High Court had dismissed Mahatre’s bail plea, saying:
“…the confessional statements of all the accused persons do indicate that the said applicant could be said to be the main conspirator in the present case.”
The high court also referred to a statement made by Mahatre’s driver, which claimed that Mahatre, being the victim’s cousin, had a long-standing political rivalry with him. The driver also mentioned a prior assault in 2013 by Mahatre and others on the same victim.
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The High Court stated:
“…the material on record does make out a prima facie case against the applicant as being the main conspirator, who motivated the other accused persons to join him, in order to launch a brutal assault on the victim, which resulted in his death. Therefore, this Court does not find any merit in the application filed by the applicant – accused No.10 and accordingly, it is dismissed.”
According to the FIR, Manoj Mahatre, a three-time Congress corporator from Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation, was brutally attacked on February 14, 2017 using firearms, sickles, and choppers, resulting in grievous injuries. He later died from these injuries.
The FIR, filed by Manoj’s driver, stated that after the assault, the accused fled the scene, and some escaped in a Swift car that was waiting outside for the getaway.
Subsequently, the police arrested Prashant Bhaskar Mahatre, the victim’s cousin, along with seven other accused.
