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The Additional Sessions Judge S B Bahalkar of the Thane District and Session Court observed that “Bail is the rule and jail is exception” and granted bail to eighty-nine accused who were arrested in the Palghar lynching case. A mob of villagers of the Palghar district of Maharashtra got together and lynched three people that included 2 Sadhus who were around 70 years of age. The court while granting the bail observed that it was the accused were just people who gathered near the spot out of curiosity or were a part of the group belonging to the members of unlawful assembly.
The Judge while delivering the order said that there is no purpose of keeping the accused behind the bars as it would not serve any purpose to the prosecution. It was also reiterated by the court that the accused should not be detained as pre-trial conviction because bail is the rule and jail is just an exception. The people who were part of the mob were charged with offences punishable under provisions of the Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Disease Act, Maharashtra Police Act and Distraction of Public Property Act through an FIR.
Special Public Prosecutor Satish Maneshinde submitted that there was prima facie evidence to show that the accused were members of the unlawful assembly and were present at the spot when the incident took place. It was also pointed out that chargesheet had been filed and weapons were also seized by the investigating officer and, hence further custody was not required. The Court held that it was not clear as to whether these applicants were members of unlawful assembly or they had gathered there out of curiosity to see what was going on.
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