Court acquits MLA Tukaram Kate, 13 others in 16-year-old BMC office ruckus case

Mumbai, Dec 20 (PTI) A court here has acquitted MLA Tukaram Kate, his wife Mangala Kate, and 12 others in a 2009 case concerning a scuffle and damage to public property at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters.

In a judgment delivered on December 18, Additional Sessions Judge Satyanarayan R Navander cleared all 14 surviving accused of all charges, citing lack of evidence.

The incident took place in November 2009 during a period of severe water shortage in the Panjrapol and Chembur areas of the metropolis.

Frustrated by irregular water supply, a group led by then-corporator Mangala Kate and her husband Tukaram Kate, who now represents the Chembur assembly constituency, entered the office of BMC Hydraulic Engineer Dinesh Gondalia to demand a resolution, police said.

According to the prosecution, the discussion turned violent when the group received an unsatisfactory response.

The probe agency alleged that the protestors shouted slogans, broke drinking glasses, pushed down wooden partitions, and damaged office equipment, including a computer CPU and chairs.

In its order, the court cited the evidence on record and noted that the visitors became angry and a mess was created in the office of the hydraulic engineer.

“There was no intention on the part of any of the visitors either to assault or to cause hurt to any public servant,” the court said.

The judge said that “there was no specific evidence that any of the visitors caused damage to the property of BMC”.

“It has come on record that the damage to the property occurred accidentally due to the mess, and the act was unintentional and without knowledge,” the court held, giving relief to the 14 accused persons. PTI AVI NR