MUMBAI: A special court under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act convicted a Wadala couple for raising derogatory slogans against Dr B R Ambedkar outside the city collector’s office in 2019 after being rendered homeless. It sentenced the 60-year-old man to six months of rigorous imprisonment and the woman, aged 55, to two months, and imposed a fine of Rs 9,000 on each.While both were found guilty of hurting religious sentiments under Indian Penal Code, the man was additionally convicted under the SC/ST Act. Their sentences will be set off against the time they already spent in jail before being granted bail.Finding the act of auto driver Parvat Reddy and homemaker Asha Reddy to be deliberate and an insult to the religious feelings of Ambedkarite and Buddhist communities, special judge Y P Manathkar held that the prosecution proved the charges through eyewitnesses and video evidence.The court, however, noted the couple’s claim that compelling circumstances led them to commit the offence. “Both submitted that their land in Wadala was grabbed by a builder who was hand in glove with the collector of Mumbai. Therefore, both of them were repeatedly requesting the collector to do justice to them by preventing the builder from forcefully taking their land, but they were not getting any support from the collector, and so, they took extreme steps.”According to the prosecution, Mahendra Shinde, a coordinator at the collector’s office in Fort, was at work on Dec 27, 2019, when the Reddys emerged from the premises and raised slogans abusing Ambedkar. Shinde, a dalit, recorded this on his phone, called the police helpline and later lodged a police complaint.The prosecution said the act occurred in a public place and many people, including police staff, witnessed it. It said the video was a clear proof and the act amounted to disrespecting a leader held in high esteem by SC/ST community members.The defence claimed false implication. It argued that the alleged act was not proved beyond reasonable doubt, that the Reddys did not know Shinde’s caste, that the woman was a dalit herself, and that the electronic evidence could not be relied upon without the required certificate from the phone owner. The court held that the eyewitnesses were credible and their presence at the spot was natural. It said the video and the audio were clear and corroborated the oral testimonies.The prosecution examined eight witnesses, including Shinde, police personnel who were present nearby, panch witnesses and the investigating officer.
