Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
A sessions court in Mumbai has acquitted a 22-year-old student who was arrested for setting fire in the premises of another court and causing damage to the property. The judge held that the prosecution had failed to establish its case against the student.
Additional Sessions Judge A. A. Kulkarni acquitted Omkar Pawar in an order passed last month on the grounds that although the prosecution claimed that the alleged event happened in broad daylight, no witnesses who might have seen the accused at the scene had been questioned.
The court held that “In such circumstances, I am of the opinion that evidence of prosecution is not sufficient to conclude that prosecution has proved that accused set fire in the premises of Girgaon court and caused damage to the property”.
According to the prosecution, on June 19, 2021, the Assistant Superintendent of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Girgaon got a call reporting a fire on the property. The prosecution also stated that the building’s cash area and video-conferencing equipment were among the places that the fire damaged. The Assistant Superintendent complained, and the Girgaon police opened an investigation. In the area’s CCTV footage, a suspicious-looking person was seen moving. Omkar Pawar was arrested in connection with the arson after police learned later that a patient at the hospital had burn wounds.