Ex-Shiv Sena corporator Jaywant Parab and former Sena up-vibhag
pramukh Ashok Shinde were on Saturday sentenced to two months in jail
for hate speech during the 92-93 Mumbai riots.

Additional Sessions Judge Dilip Murumkar upheld the 2008 conviction of Parab and Shinde by a trial court under section 153A read with 149 (promoting communal enmity) of the Indian Penal Code.

Saturday's verdict is historic on two counts: It is the only case in
which atrial court conviction of Sena leaders for the 92-93 riots has
been upheld. Secondly, it upholds the first and only conviction of
Shiv Sena leaders for inflammatory speeches.

Former Sena MP Madhukar Sarpotdar was a co-accused in this case. He
passed away in 2010. Of the other four co-accused, one Sunder Shetty
of the BJP died much earlier, while three other Shiv Sainiks were
acquitted by the trial court.

The case relates to an incident on December 27, 1992. Incendiary
speeches were made at the end of a procession taken out by Sarpotdar
and other Sena leaders, to reinstall the idol of Ganesh that had been
desecrated on December 6, 1992, the day the Babri Masjid was
demolished.

Considering the political backing of the accused, the case received
scant attention from the police. Both the accused said that the police
had neither informed them that a case had been filed against them nor
taken their statements. It took eight years for the charges to be
filed in a Bandra court, and the case lingered there till it was
transferred to the Special Riots Court in 2008, leading to their
conviction. When the Sena men moved the Sessions court, then chief
minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had promised to appoint a special public
prosecutor to fight the appeal. However, he did not keep his word.
Advocate Sumesh Panjwani, who was appointed just seven months ago as
additional PP, appeared for the State as part of his regular duties.

The fact that the incident took place 20 years ago and the long span
that has passed for conclusion of the trial and the appeal was one of
the factors for Judge Murumkar to reduce the original sentence of one
year to two months. The court also took into consideration the age of
Parab, 62, and Shinde, 58, and the fact that both regularly attended
court proceedings.

Upholding the order passed by Special Riots Court Magistrate
Rajeshwari Bapat-Sarkar as legal, proper and correct, Judge Murumkar's
order states that India is a secular country, and though everyone has
the fundamental right to speech, no one should make speeches that
would hurt others. The order finds a clear intention on the part of
the two accused to create arift between two communities.

The order rejects the three arguments made by the accused. First, that
there was no "mens rea'' (guilty mind). The order states: the accused
had the "mens rea" to "make an attempt to promote feelings of enmity
by derogatory and provocative speeches". Second, the lack of
independent witnesses. The only witnesses in this case were policemen.
However, the order states, "there is no shred of evidence on record to
state that these police witnesses have animus against the accused.
Therefore, their evidence has to be weighed in the same scale as that
of an independent witness. Their evidence is cogent and unshaken and
corroborates the prosecution's case.''

Finally, the delay of two days in filing the complaint. Here too, the
order reasons: "The accused held key posts in the Shiv Sena and the
BMC. Therefore, there was the possibility that the police took time
for discussion for taking action against these politicians, in order
to avoid communal tension. This opinion is strengthened by the copy of
the FIR that shows there was violence in Mumbai. The entries entered
into the Station Diary (were) on the date of the incident, therefore
the delay does not cast doubts on the prosecution case.''

Reacting to the verdict, Parab, who recently returned to the Sena
after spending six years in the Congress, and is keen on fighting the
2014 assembly elections, said, "Even after 20 years, we have not got
justice. But we believe in the legal system. We will appeal against
the order and hope that we will get justice one day.''

"This is a nirnay (decision), not nyay (justice),'' said Shinde. "But
if we have to be punished for the cause of desh, dev and dharma, we
accept it.''

Soon after the verdict, Parab complained of weakness and numbness in
limbs and was taken to St George's Hospital. D V Kulkarni, medical
superintendant of St George's hospital said, "He had high blood
pressure. He has a history of diabetes and neurological problems.
Currently, he is admitted to the ICU."