Pune, Jun 20 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar on Saturday asked who killed his father, former Maharashtra minister Pawanraje Nimbalkar, if none of the accused tried before a CBI court was guilty, and alleged that the police who conducted the probe initially were under pressure from Padamsinh Patil, a former home minister and an accused in the case.
“Good people, who live and behave correctly, face disappointment. This is ‘Kalyug’,” he said, reacting to the verdict which came 20 years after the murder of his father and his driver in Navi Mumbai.
A special court in Mumbai on Saturday acquitted Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder case, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the chain of conspiracy.
Nimbalkar said his family would challenge the decision before the Bombay High Court.
“We have heard the operative part of the judgment. The court has accepted that there was political rivalry, and also pointed out shortcomings in the investigation conducted by the state police. At that time, there was pressure on the police from Padamsinh Patil who had served as the state’s home minister earlier,” he told reporters here.
After his family moved the High Court seeking transfer of the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the case was handed over to the central agency after nearly three years, Nimbalkar said.
“The CBI carried out a thorough investigation. Once we receive and study the written judgment, we will certainly approach the high court. The only question my family has is: if all the accused have been acquitted, who killed Pawanraje?” the Dharashiv MP said.
“For 20 years, we attended every hearing and pursued the legal battle with the expectation that the guilty would be punished. While we respect the court’s decision, we will seek legal remedy before the High Court,” he said.
Asked about his own political plans, Nimbalkar, who was among the six dissident Sena (UBT) MPs who did not attend the parliamentary party’s meeting in Delhi in spire of a whip and who are said to be on their way to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said he would take a decision within two days after consulting the people of his constituency.
“I have never spoken against Uddhav Thackeray or Aaditya Thackeray, and I will not do so in future either,” he said. PTI SPK AW KRK
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