The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a petition filed by an acquitted rape accused, who languished in prison for seven years until he was set free, seeking Rs 200 crore as compensation.
The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a petition filed by an acquitted rape accused, who languished in prison for seven years until he was set free, seeking Rs 200 crore as compensation.
A division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and Prakash Naik, in their 88-page judgment, turned down the plea filed by Gopal Shetye, saying “It is not established by the petitioner that there were malafides or malice on the part of prosecution in implicating him in the case. Evidence on record does establish that he was falsely implicated in exercise of malafides by the investigating agency. Thus, there is no violation of fundamental rights.”
Shetye was imprisoned in 2009 for allegedly raping a 28-year-old woman from Aurangabad, who was sleeping on a railway bridge in Ghatkhopar. The woman alerted police that a man called ‘Gopi’ raped her. The police arrested the accused because he was commonly known as Gopi in the area.
While Shetye served his sentence, his wife left him and re-married. In June 2015, Shetye was acquitted of all charges by the HC in an appeal filed by him. The court, while discarding the arguments of Shetye said, “Though such claims are doubtful or disputed and unclear, this public law remedy will be resorted to obtain undue monetary and other benefits. While the court must be zealous in safeguarding fundamental rights, and particularly the right to life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, at the same time, it cannot award compensation merely because the prosecution fails to establish the guilt of the accused.”
Falsely implicated
Shetye was imprisoned in 2009 for allegedly raping a 28-year-old woman from Aurangabad, who was sleeping on a railway bridge in Ghatkhopar. The woman alerted police that a man called ‘Gopi’ raped her. The police arrested the accused later.
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