Thane court convicts man for assaulting cop, grants probation in 2018 case

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has convicted a 30-year-old man for assaulting a policeman inside a police station in a 2018 case, but released him on a good behaviour bond instead of sentencing him to jail. The court said there was nothing on record to show that he had been involved in any criminal activity since the incident.

Additional Sessions Judge Mahesh S Lone also acquitted two co-accused, saying there was a lack of "clinching evidence" to connect them to the crime. The main accused, Aakash Lakshman Kavade, a resident of Wagle Estate, was found guilty under IPC sections 353, 332, 504 and 506.

According to the case, the incident took place on October 14, 2018, when Constable Manoj Bhimrao Sapkal of Shreenagar police station was questioning a youth who had been detained for creating a ruckus at an event.

The prosecution said Kavade and the two other accused entered the constable's room, got into a heated argument demanding the youth's release, and threatened to record a video and make it viral. When Sapkal tried to intervene, Kavade allegedly abused him, pushed him to the ground while fleeing, and injured him.

During the trial, the defence claimed the case was fabricated and argued that the police had failed to produce CCTV footage from the police station, which, according to them, would have exposed police high-handedness.

Judge Lone, however, said the prosecution had successfully proved the main charges against Kavade. While the prosecution opposed leniency and sought a strict penalty, arguing that it was needed to discourage a growing trend of citizens confronting policemen and recording videos, the court took a reformative view in light of the long delay in the judicial process.

The court noted that seven years had passed since the incident and that there was nothing on record to show that Kavade had committed any offence during this period.

"Taking into consideration the family background of the accused and that during these seven years he has not committed any offence, I am inclined to grant him the benefit of Section 4 of the Probation of Offenders Act, and instead of sentencing him, he can be released on executing good behaviour bond for the period of one year..." the judge said.

Kavade was released after furnishing a good behaviour bond of Rs 15,000 and was directed to remain under the direct supervision of the District Probation Officer, Thane, for one year, with the court warning that any breach of the bond conditions would make him liable for a formal prison sentence.