Palghar sadhus lynching case: HC refuses bail to 4 accused

Mumbai, Dec 23 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused bail to four accused in the mob lynching and killing of two sadhus and their driver in Maharashtra's Palghar district during the COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020, noting that there was sufficient prima facie evidence against them.

Rajesh Rao, Sunil Dalvi, Sajanua Burkud and Vinod Rao had sought bail on the ground of long incarceration and parity. Till now, 42 accused in the case have been granted bail, their applications pointed out.

In her order refusing them relief, Justice Neela Gokhale observed that a person's liberty is precious but it cannot be absolute in every situation.

"The valuable right of liberty of an individual and the interest of society in general has to be balanced. Liberty of a person accused of an offence would depend upon the exigencies of the case," the court said.

The collective interest of a community may outweigh the right of personal liberty, it added.

Further, in cases of mob lynching, the ground of parity cannot be applied as the role attributed to each accused is different, the judge said.

The high court, however, also directed the CBI to complete its probe expeditiously.

As per the prosecution, on April 14, 2020, during the pandemic lockdown, a mob of villagers attacked two sadhus travelling through the area in a car and their driver on the suspicion that they were child kidnappers. All three died. The mob also attacked the police team which arrived at the spot to rescue them.

A case was registered against 126 persons, and the probe was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The prosecution opposed the bail pleas, claiming that CCTV footage showed the four men attacking the victims and even the policemen who tried to rescue them. PTI SP KRK