By IANS,
Raigad (Maharashtra): A local Maharashtra court slapped a fine of Rs.10,000 on suspended Nationalist Congress Party parliament member Padamsinh Patil, who is an accused in a murder case, for delaying the trial slated to start here Tuesday, a lawyer said.
Patil, along with two co-accused – Satish Mandade and municipal corporator Mohan Shukla – moved a joint application seeking documents from police who booked him and several others for the murder of Congress leader Pavan-Raje Nimbalkar in 2006, said Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel Ejaz Khan.
The case was registered at Kalamboli police station in Navi Mumbai but the probe was later taken over by the CBI.
“I objected to the application and pointed out that all the documents pertaining to the case have already been handed over to Patil and other accused in the form of a CBI charge sheet,” Khan told IANS.
He contended that the charge sheet was filed against Patil nearly two years ago. In the meantime, the accused moved other higher courts but never spoke about the documents, Khan said.
He said if the accused needed more documents, he could have sought additional time from the court instead of delaying the matter when the trial was due to start.
Additional District Sessions Judge Dilip Gaikwad intervened and directed the CBI to provide Patil the documents he had sought in the next 10 days.
He also ordered Patil to pay a fine of Rs.10,000 for wasting the court’s time and delaying the proceedings.
The daily hearing in the case will start July 4.
According to the CBI, Patil hired contract killers for a sum of Rs.30 lakh to get Nimbalkar killed in 2006.
On July 3, 2006, Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Kazi were shot dead at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai in the adjacent Thane district.