A designated TADA court on Wednesday sentenced notorious gangster Arun Gawli to seven years' Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for possessing a stengun in a notified area ten years back. This is the first major conviction for Gawli who has already sought acquittal or discharge in several other cases registered against him by Mumbai police.
Gawli was sentenced to seven years RI and Rs 1,000 fine under section 5 of TADA (P) Act and Section 25 (1-A) of Arms Act, 1959.
Designated Judge P K Chavre also sentenced him to three years RI and fined Rs 1000 under section 25 (1-B/A) of Arms Act. All these sections deal with possession of prohibited weapon and the sentences would run concurrently. Gawli stepped into the witness box to plead for leniency on the ground that his mother, wife and children were dependent on him. He also alleged that police had framed him in this case at the instance of rival gangster Dawood Ibrahim. The court turned down his plea for suspension of the sentence but allowed him to file an appeal in the Supreme Court within a month.
The judge observed that normally the court awards ten years RI in such cases but here some leniency was being shown because Gawli was confined to prison for some years and also because the trial was delayed. The court also gave Gawli the benefit of set off from July 21, 1990 to August 9, 1994 as he was in prison in regard to some other case. Bureau Report