MUMBAI, 19 December 2007 — A court in Mumbai yesterday sentenced Pravin Mahajan to life in prison for the murder last year of his brother Pramod Mahajan, a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leader and a former minister. Sessions Court Judge S.P. Davare also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs.20,000.
Although special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam pressed for the death penalty, the judge handed down a sentence of life imprisonment.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, Nikam said he would appeal the verdict in the Bombay High Court seeking harsher punishment for Pravin. Pravin listened with calmness as Judge Davare read out his two-page judgment. The convict later said he was not surprised by the verdict. Pravin’s wife Sarangi broke into tears after the judgment.
Meanwhile, angered by the wide publicity given to underworld gangsters by the media, Mumbai police have warned journalists they may be arrested for aiding and abetting criminals if they do not desist from telecasting or publishing conversations with gangsters as “interviews.”
The warning came from Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria who said the Mumbai police were considering taking action against television journalists who interviewed Bunty Pandey recently.
The gangster allegedly threatened film star Shah Rukh Khan and demanded Rs.20 million.
Maria said police were studying legal ways to proceed against the TV channel that aired Pandey’s interview. Such interviews give publicity to criminals and embolden them. According to legal experts, police can act against journalists who interview criminals because it is tantamount to aiding and abetting them, Maria said.
