A sessions court in Bombay on February 20 upheld the conviction of actor Aditya Pancholi for assaulting a man in a two-decade-old car parking dispute but dropped the one-year jail term handed to him, and ordered his release on a bond of good behaviour. The court observed that criminal jurisprudence recognises reformative action rather than retribution.
Sessions judge D.G. Dhoble cited provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, to underline that both aim to avoid sentencing first-time offenders to prison. The Railway Mobile Court magistrate at Andheri in Bombay had in November 2016 held the actor, then 52 years old (in 2005), guilty under section 325 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to a year in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs. 20,000 as compensation to victim Pratik Pashine.
The FIR, filed at Versova police station, had said that a fight broke out on August 21, 2005 between Aditya Pancholi and the complainant over a car that was parked in the wrong place near the Four Bungalows market. Pashine accused Pancholi of verbally abusing him and allegedly hitting him with his fist, leading to a fracture of his nose. After evidence was presented and four witnesses deposed, the magistrate found Pancholi guilty of causing grievous hurt.
Aditya appealed against his 2016 conviction and claimed that he was falsely implicated. However, the sessions court said that the evidence of the complainant was cogent, consistent and corroborated by medical evidence. However, the court added, “The magistrate should have considered whether imprisonment serves any purpose other than stigmatisation. Sentencing policy should balance deterrence and correction.” The sessions court judge agreed with Pancholi’s lawyer that the sentence was harsh, and benefit of probation was not even considered by the magistrate. He said that considering that the crime occurred 20 years ago and Pancholi is a “71-year-old prominent actor” with no criminal antecedents, with it being a “spur of the moment” act in a parking dispute, the court must consider these aspects. Besides, he “did not act in a cruel manner,” said the appeal court. Imposing a sentence “without considering its effect on the social order in many cases may be a futile exercise,” the judge said, granting Aditya Pancholi the benefit of release under the Probation of Offenders Act. It ordered the actor to “maintain peace and good behaviour for one year” and not get involved in criminal activities. The sessions court also directed Pancholi to pay enhanced compensation of Rs. 1.5 lakh.