Mumbai: A special court Saturday acquitted former Maharashtra home minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder case of Maharashtra Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver.
Special CBI court judge Satyanaryan Navandar said the prosecution failed to prove the chain of conspiracy.
The prosecution primarily relied on the testimony of the accused-turned-approver Parasmal Jain. However, the court found his testimony doubtful and discarded it, saying it did not prove the chain of events.
Patil, a former NCP MP and stepbrother of Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, and seven other accused faced the murder trial.
Pawanraje Nimbalkar’s son Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar is currently a Lok Sabha member from the Shiv Sena (UBT).
June 3, 2006, Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver, Samad Kazi, were on their way from Mumbai to Osmanabad (now Dharashiv), when two hitmen intercepted their car at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai and opened fire, killing both of them on the spot.
The Navi Mumbai police initially probed the case, but the Bombay High Court later transferred it to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after Pawanraje Nimbalkar’s wife expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the investigation.
Patil was arrested in June 2009 after the central probe agency took over the case. However, a sessions court in Alibaug (Raigad district) granted him bail in September that year.
Besides Patil, the other accused in the case include Latur-based businessman Satish Mandade, retired state excise inspector Mohan Shukla and the shooters.
As per the CBI, Patil, the prime accused in the case, is alleged to have hatched the criminal conspiracy and paid the contract money to eliminate his cousin Pawanraje Nimbalkar due to intense political and business rivalry.
The prosecution alleged that Parasmal Jain initially accepted the contract of Rs 30 lakh from Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade to kill Pawanraje Nimbalkar. He was later granted a pardon and turned approver against the other accused.
The case trial began in July 2011. During the 15-year-long trial, the special court examined as many as 128 witnesses, including anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
Hazare’s name came up in the case after Jain’s confession that Patil had simultaneously given a contract to eliminate the activist.
Hazare had testified about receiving threats from Patil.
