Refusing to grant interim compensation of Rs 100 crore to Gopal Ramdas Shetye who has approached the Bombay high court seeking action against policemen and compensation of Rs 200 crore for implicatin
Refusing to grant interim compensation of Rs 100 crore to Gopal Ramdas Shetye who has approached the Bombay high court seeking action against policemen and compensation of Rs 200 crore for implicating him in a rape case, the Bombay high court held that his application needs to be heard at length and should be heard with the main petition. According to Mr Shetye, due to this false case his family left him and he had to spend seven years behind bars.
Mr Shetye (41), who was acquitted in a rape case after serving the entire sentence awarded to him by a trial court has now filed a petition in the Bombay high court seeking prosecution of not only the investigating officer for framing him in a false case but also of the public prosecutor as well as the trial court judge who had convicted him for “not applying judicial mind” while appreciating evidence against him.
Mr Shetye has filed the petition with the help of ‘Organisation of Jurists for Humanity Awareness’ (OJHA), an NGO, and has sought a compensation of Rs 200 crore. Mr Shetye through his lawyer Nilesh Ojha has requested the court that pending the hearing and final disposal of the petition, to direct the Maharasthtra government to pay an interim compensation of Rs 100 crore to him.
Though government pleader J.P. Yagnik opposed this request and also informed the division bench of Justice N.H. Patil and Justice A.M. Badar the government is in the process of filing a Special Leave Petition against the judgment acquitting Mr Shetye.
After the hearing of arguments, the bench observed that issues raised by the applicant were of far-reaching consequences in respect to the administration of the criminal justice system. “The observations made by the apex court and the facts of the present case are required to be dealt with at length. Even at the time of deciding the interim application, the entire exercise of going through the matter and thorough hearing of the main ground raised in the petition is required,” said the bench, adding that due to this the application of interim compensation will have to be considered along with the main writ petition.
Mr Shetye was convicted in a rape case and was awarded sentence to undergo imprisonment for 7 years. The high court had acquitted him after hearing appeal but by that time he had already undergone seven years of imprisonment. According to Mr Shetye, his father died of heart attack, he also lost his job, and his wife got married to another person when he was in prison and his daughters were sent to orphanage and he could not get their custody.
