Court rejects claim firing was accidental

He faces a minimum of life imprisonment and a maximum sentence of death.

Dressed in a white kurta-pajama, Pravin reminded composed throughout the proceedings. When the judge asked him if he understood everything, he replied in the positive. The judge read out the statement convicting him in Marathi.

Later, Pravin got off the dock and sat next to his wife Sarangi, who sobbed quietly, and brothers-in-law Shailesh and Prasad Pullewar. Pravin’s children, Kapil and Vaishali, did not come to court today.

Reacting to the conviction, he later said: “I have been hearing the dictation of the judgment for the last 10 days. I am not surprised.”

Noting that the prosecution had proved its case “beyond reasonable doubt”, the Mumbai sessions court, however, held that the motive may not be greed as alleged by them, saying this charge was an “afterthought”. The court instead gave more importance to a threatening SMS sent by Pravin to his brother.

Additional Sessions Judge S P Daware said he had considered the “cogent and reliable evidence” of eyewitness Rekha Mahajan (Mahajan’s wife) and family help Mahesh Wankhede.

He also accepted Mahajan’s last words to his brother-in-law Gopinath Munde as his dying declaration. Munde had told the court that while Mahajan was being rushed to Hinduja Hospital, he said: “What crime have I committed that my brother Pravin pumped bullets into me?”

The oral evidence, the judge said, was “corroborated by other circumstantial consistent evidences” such as medical, ballistic proof.

Taking Pravin’s conduct into consideration, the judge rejected the defence theory that there had been a scuffle and that the firing was an accident. If it was indeed a case of accidental firing, the judge reasoned, Pravin should have at least taken his slain brother who was “like a father to him” to hospital. He also questioned why no blood marks were found on Pravin’s body.

The judge also noted that Pravin had come to Mahajan’s house that morning armed with a gun.

Judge Daware rejected the claim that “Pravin’s lust for money” was the motive for the killing, saying the prosecution allegation that he was asking for Rs 1 crore was “an afterthought”. The greed angle was first alleged by Rekha Mahajan almost a year after the murder. A threatening SMS sent by Pravin to Mahajan on April 15, 2006, saying “Ab yachana nahi ran hoga, jeevan vijay ke saath, ya phir maran hoga —- Pravin Venkatesh Mahajan (There won’t be pleas anymore. It will be war, I will be either victorious or dead)” —- was seen as significant.

The defence theory that the SMS was fabricated was not considered. Since the defence demonstrated that an SMS could be manipulated on a Motorola handset similar to Mahajan’s but not his, the judge decided to rule this out. Besides, the judge said, the evidence of the SMS was given by a “respectable citizen”.

Judge Daware also mentioned police “lapses”, pointing out that when Pravin surrendered before the Worli police, his gun was handled by a duty officer with bare hands.

The police also failed to record Pravin’s “confession” before a magistrate, which would have made it admissible in court. A statement before the police is not admissible.

After hearing the prosecution and defence arguments on the quantum of sentence tomorrow, the judge is likely to pronounce the sentence against Pravin. Pravin’s lawyers have said that they will appeal against the order in the Bombay High Court.

In his reaction to the verdict, another sibling of Mahajan, Prakash, said: “He (Pravin) deserves to be punished for what he has done. Apart from that there is nothing we want to say.”