A Sessions Court in Thane convicted a 52-year-old man for assaulting a traffic police constable during a road rage incident in 2016. Taking note of the convict’s ill health and family responsibilities, the Court sentenced him to one day of simple imprisonment along with a fine of ₹10,000.
The verdict was delivered by Additional Sessions Judge G.T. Pawar, who observed that while the prosecution had successfully established charges under Sections 353 and 332 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to assault and voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant, the accused deserved leniency due to the minor nature of the injury, his cooperative conduct during trial, and his fragile medical condition.
The accused, Ramesh Shitkar, was found guilty of repeatedly slapping traffic constable Dilip Pawar at the Cadbury signal in Thane on November 18, 2016, after the officer attempted to stop his speeding car. The FIR was registered at Rabodi Police Station, and a total of seven prosecution witnesses were examined during the course of the trial.
Rejecting the defence’s version that the accused had been falsely implicated after a scuffle involving a rickshaw driver, the Court noted, “The defence failed to bring any material on record to disbelieve the version of the prosecution witnesses. From the spot panchanama, no evidence of the alleged dash to the car is revealed".
The Court further held that the prosecution had sufficiently proved that the constable was performing his lawful duties at the time of the assault and that the accused’s actions amounted to a criminal offense under the law.
However, exercising judicial discretion, Judge Pawar noted, “Considering the conduct of the accused during trial, his ailment, responsibilities, and the nature of injury caused to the informant, I am of the view that leniency can be shown to him".
The judgment, dated July 31, became publicly available on Wednesday.
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