Praveen gets life term

 

 

The keenly followed Mahajan trial came to a close Tuesday after a sessions court pronounced Praveen Mahajan guilty of homicide. Praveen was convicted of pumping three bullets into elder brother and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s chest.

Earlier, during the trial, Praveen had pleaded innocence whereas he surrendered before the Worli police station right after the killing on April 22, 2006. Prosecutors had to make do with the lifer handed out to him as Additional Sessions Judge S.P. Daware rejected their plea supporting maximum punishment. The judge, however, rejected the defence’s theory of “accidental firing”, pronouncing him guilty of murder and criminal trespassing under sections 302 and 449. The judgment, mainly the result of a 600-page list of depositions with over 35 witnesses’ statements, was expected. Amongst those whose statements mattered were the slain minister’s wife Rekha and their servant Mahesh Wankhede, eyewitnesses to the event.

The trial gained momentum and drew much attention from the beginning, July 14, when a 650-page chargesheet was filed before the Bhoiwada court to the rejection of Praveen’s bail application by sessions judge Abhay Thipsay. Later, it was special prosecutor Srikant Bhatt’s turn when he withdrew from the trial on September 8. The prosecution was then handed over to high profile special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and Niteen Pradhan, appointed by the state. On January 23, 2007, Praveen pleaded ‘not guilty’.

The court’s acceptance of the theory of “accidental firing” by Praveen, as blood did not splash on Praveen’s clothes after the firing, coincided in part with Praveen’s lowdown on the incident, calling it a result of a fracas rather than cold-blooded killing. The judge termed it as an “afterthought”, rejecting Rekha’s allegation of greed behind the murder.

The case also went in-camera after Praveen stumped the courtroom on October 30 by allegations on Pramod Mahajan’s character, a day after stating that he had not killed Mahajan Sr.

Now that he has been convicted, it’s an end to a media circus that kept the country riveted. Questions were also raised about the future of Rahul Mahajan (Pramod’s son), whose wayward ways have been making headlines of late. Justice has been done, the wrongdoer has been punished (Praveen, of course, said he had no regrets), but where does the Mahajan clan go from here? That will be as closely watched as the trial itself.