MUMBAI: A special court on Monday handed down a verdict, finding Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Tamil Selwan and four others guilty of assaulting Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials in 2017.
The court sentenced them to six months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 13,500 on each of the convicted individuals.
Special Judge RN Rokade found the five individuals guilty of various offenses under the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, unlawful assembly, deterring public servants from performing their duties, and assault.
The court has temporarily suspended the sentence, granting the convicted individuals the opportunity to appeal to the high court.
The incident occurred in 2017 in the Sion Koliwada area of central Mumbai when civic officials had gone to a neighborhood to disconnect illegal electricity and water connections.
When questioned by the court about his conviction, the MLA responded by stating that he “had not committed any wrongdoing.”
Special public prosecutor Sumesh Panjwani, representing the police, requested the imposition of the maximum penalty, while the defense argued that awarding the maximum punishment should not be a one-size-fits-all approach and that the conduct of the accused should be taken into account.
The defense contended that since this is their first offense and the accused individuals are generally upstanding citizens, the court should consider imposing the minimum punishment.
According to the case details, the assault on BMC officials occurred in Punjabi Colony, and the accused led a mob of 1000-1200 individuals, which could only be brought under control after additional police reinforcements were dispatched to the scene.
With agency inputs