SC confirms its order staying release of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli

The Supreme court on Wednesday confirmed its earlier order staying the premature release of gangsterturnedpolitician Arun Gawli quoting a dialogue on the villain Gabbar Singh from the Hindi film Sholay Gawli is serving life imprisonment in a murder caseThe two judge bench comprising of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Dattamade absolute its June 3 order staying the operation of the April 5 order of the Bombay High Courts Nagpur bench and posted the appeals for hearing on November 20State authorities have been directed by the high court to consider Gawlis application for premature release under the 2006 remission policyWe are not inclined to grant any interim relief The interim stay granted by us is confirmed Post the appeals for hearing on November 20 the bench saidSenior advocate Raja Thakare appearing for the Maharashtra government submitted that Gawli has over 46 cases including around 10 cases of murder against himAs per the PTI report the apex court asked the senior lawyer whether Gawli had done anything in last five to eight years to which he replied that the gangster has been behind bars for over 17 yearsThe bench then asked whether he is reformed or not How society will know that when he is behind the bars He is 72 years old it saidChallenging the high court order Thakare said there is a requirement under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA for convicts to undergo imprisonment for at least 40 years for remission This is as per the policy of 2015Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan appearing for Gawli told the court that other coaccused had been given bail in the matter and the Bombay High Court was right in granting premature releaseThe state government has changed its remission policy in 2015 but your lordships have held that the policy will apply which was applicable when he was convicted The 2006 policy will apply since he was convicted in 2009 This policy allows remission on account of age and infirmity she saidAt this juncture the bench observed But madam you should know that not everybody is Arun Gawli In the movie Sholay there is an iconic dialogue So ja beta nahi toh Gabbar aa jayega This can be a case hereElaborating on Gawlis health condition Ramakrishnan told the court that he is suffering from heart disease and has a lung defectTo this the counsel for the Maharashtra government said this was so because of continuous smoking for 40 yearsRamakrishnan responded So what you cannot keep him inside because of this He is not on trial for smoking The advisory board has certified that he is infirm at his age therefore the 2006 policy would apply since he was convicted then The later policy of 2015 cannot applyOn June 3 the top court stayed the operation of the April 5 order of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High CourtThe bench had allowed Gawlis plea seeking a direction to the state government for his premature release on account of the remission policy dated January 10 2006 prevailing on the date of his conviction on August 31 2012Gawli who is undergoing life imprisonment for the 2007 murder of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar claims to have complied with all the conditions of the 2006 policyGawli has contended that he is of advanced age and has been certified as weak by the medical board making him eligible for availing the benefit of the remission policyGawli who shot into prominence from Dagdi Chawl a neighbourhood of Byculla is the founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena He was an MLA from 20042009 from the Chinchpokli seat of MumbaiHe was arrested in 2006 and was put on trial for the murder of Jamsandekar In August 2012 a sessions court in Mumbai sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case and imposed a fine of Rs 17 lakh on him