Ready To Pay Rs 10 Lakh To Father Of IT Professional Who Was Lynched By Mob: Maharashtra Govt Tells Bombay HC

In a petition filed by the father of Mohsin Sheikh, the 24-year-old youth who worked in an IT company and was killed by an angry mob, the state government has filed its reply before the Bombay High Court. In its reply, the state government has agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

Petitioner Sadiq Sheikh had sought Rs 10 lakh compensation (Rs 5 lakh each from the state and the Centre) under a scheme that compensates victims of communal violence.

Government Pleader Manish Pabale informed the division bench of Chief Justice NH Patil and Justice MS Karnik that the compensation amount will be paid to Sadiq Sheikh in a week.

As reported earlier, in a controversial order, the high court had granted bail to the three accused in the case. However, according to the prosecution, the murder took place on May 31, 2014, after a meeting was conducted by one Hindu Rashtra Sena at Hadapsar, Pune.

The meeting was regarding the incident of defiling of the statue of King Shivaji Maharaj and accused Dhananjay Desai made “instigating speeches” and thereafter all the accused armed with weapons on two-wheelers started moving on the road. They spotted the deceased, Mohsin, along with two other men and attacked them with sticks and bats. One of Mohsin’s companions escaped at the time of the incident, but Mohsin could not only to later succumb to his injuries on June 2, 2014.

Interestingly, it was recorded in the bail order that the prosecution submitted that “Deceased was wearing a pastel green colour shirt and had sported a beard and therefore, the accused and the co-accused targeted Mohsin and his friend Wasim and started assaulting him with hockey sticks, bats and stones,” prompting the court to note that “the accused were provoked in the name of religion”. The language in this order was later modified.

Twenty-three accused have been named as part of the mob that lynched Mohsin. While other accused have been released on bail, the main accused Dhananjay Desai is still in jail as the trial is pending.

The court has now kept the matter for hearing after two weeks and asked the state to inform in the next hearing whether compensation amount was paid.