Bombay High Court orders premature release of gangster Arun Gawli

Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], April 5 (ANI): The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has ordered the premature release of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli who was serving his life sentence in Nagpur Central Jail.

The court pronounced the judgement on Friday, “holding that Arun Gawli would be entitled to the benefit of 2006 policy and he cannot be excluded from the benefit of policy by resorting to rule of ejusdem generis (of same kind).”

The state has been directed to take decision on his release within a period of four weeks from the date of order.

Gawli’s application was rejected by the respondents on the count that the state government had come up with a fresh notification dated December 1, 2015, by which a convict under MCOCA Act was held entitled to the benefit of said policy decision.

Advocate Nagman Ali appearing for Arun Gulab Gawli had argued that the Gawli would be entitled to benefit of 2006 notification in view of the fact that he was convicted in the year 2009, and therefore, a subsequent notification which had come into force in the year 2015 would not have any applicability to Gawli.

The state had registered the petition filed by Gawli on the ground that the 2015 notification specifically excludes the convict under MCOCA Act from benefit of said policy.

It was further submitted that the even 2006 notification makes it clear that convicts under the act like NDPS Act, TADA act, MPDA etc are not entitled to the benefit of the policy.

It was contended that the terminology that is used is ‘et cetera’, and therefore even conviction under MCOCA Act would not be entitled to benefit of 2006 policy by taking resort to rule of ‘ejusdem generis’ (of same kind).

In August 2012, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court sentenced Gawli to life imprisonment for the murder of a Shiv Sena corporator in March 2008.

The conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.