The Supreme Court on Monday stayed an order granting remission by the Bombay High Court to gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, who is expected to shortly surrender before the authorities.
Sources close to Gawli confirmed he will surrender. Gawli is currently serving life imprisonment for the 2007 murder case of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar.
Earlier the Bombay High Court in its order said that Gawli is “entitled” to benefits of the 2006 remission policy by the Maharashtra government and directed authorities to “pass consequential order” in that regard.
A vacation bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta heard the state government’s plea opposing the premature release of Gawli, who was convicted under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
On April 5, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court allowed Gawli’s plea for premature release based on the remission policy dated January 10, 2006. This policy was in effect at the time of his conviction on August 31, 2012. Gawli argued that he met all the conditions of the 2006 policy, and the rejection of his application for premature release by state authorities was unjust and arbitrary.
Gawli, had, claimed to have been certified as weak by the Medical Board, qualifying him for the benefits of the 2006 policy. However, the state government opposed his plea, citing revised guidelines from March 18, 2010.
These guidelines stipulate that convicts of organized crime should not be granted premature release unless they have served 40 years of actual imprisonment.
