Bombay HC grants furlough to gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli

Nagpur: Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli has been granted furlough by the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.

The bench, however, asked the state government to decide the duration of the furlough.

The former MLA, currently lodged in the Central Prison here and serving life imprisonment in a murder case, had filed a petition before the bench on February 2 for grant of furlough.

A division bench of justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and VM Deshpande granted him the furlough yesterday.

The petitioner claimed that there was no material on record to prove that he violated the provisions of furlough on earlier occasions. He also mentioned that he had not indulged in any illegal activity and had surrendered before the authorities on due date.

On October 14, 2015, Gawli had written to officiating Deputy Inspector General of Prisons, Eastern Region, Nagpur, Yogesh Desai, requesting furlough.

His application was, however, rejected by the authority on the ground that if released, he may commit some offence and might cause harm to the society.

Subsequently, he approached the High Court.

Gawli, the founder of Akhil Bharatiya Sena, was in August 2012 convicted for the murder of Shiv Sena MLA Kamalakar Jamsandekar in 2008, and awarded life imprisonment by a sessions court in Mumbai.

He was arrested by Saki Naka police in Mumbai and booked for offences under IPC sections 302 (murder), 149, 120B, and sections 3(1), 3(2) and 3 (4) of the MCOCA Act.