Kashish Jain
Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court granted 45-day parole to the gangster turned politician Arun Gawli (alias Daddy) on the grounds of his wife’s ill health. The Division Bench of Justices ZA Haq and Amit Borkar, has directed jail authorities to release him.
The Gangster is serving a life sentence for the murder of the Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsnadekar. The concerned has been behind the bars for close to 12 years. The trial court had convicted him and this conviction was upheld by the High Court.
It has been alleged that he was paid a sum of INR 30 lakh by the deceased’s political rivals, Sahebrao Bhintade and Bala Surve.
He has been lodged in the Nagpur Central Prison. He applied for 45-day parole when his wife, referred to as “Mummy’ has to undergo an operation. She is suffering due to Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) in her left ear.
When the Superintendent, Central Prison, Nagpur called for a report from Assistant Police Commissioner, Agripada Division, Mumbai, the latter sent the former a report acknowledging that Gawli’s wife suffers from the aforementioned illness.
The report proceeded to mention that the doctors at Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital had advised her to undergo surgery. However, it was also stated that Gawli’s son and other relatives are capable of caring for her.
The concerned report also stated that when Arun Gawli had been granted leave from jail an offense was registered against Gawli’s wife. The report was adverse since Arun Gawli has been involved in several criminal activities. As a result, the jail superintendent had rejected his application and stated that if Gawli is released on parole leave then there is a danger to the complainants and witnesses in the case.
On an earlier occasion when Gawli had been granted parole the Court had stated:
“No person in the family can extend a support or help to the ailing wife as her husband would and in such a case, the husband himself would like to see his wife or otherwise his anxiety will affect his well-being adversely.“
Acknowledging that his wife was ailing the Court granted him parole. The Court took cognizance of the fact that whenever Gawli is out on parole, he always turns himself in on time before the prison authorities and that prison authorities had not pointed to any instances where Gawli committed any acts to endanger the life of a person or even misuse the parole