Dabholkar murder accused’s request to visit family for third time rejected

An application made by Dr Virendra Tawade, an accused in the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar to perform concluding funeral rituals for his father was rejected by a court in Pune on Monday.

In the order made available on Tuesday, the judge observed that the application was rejected as Tawade has already been allowed to visit home after his father’s death twice.

He was last released conditionally from jail on September 26 to attend the 10th day Hindu religious rituals for his father who died on the night of September 15, one day before the court had allowed Dr Tawade to visit him, according to advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar representing Dr Tawade.

“Whenever it was absolutely necessary, this court has allowed the request of the applicant, particularly for the funeral and post-funeral ceremony of his father. So far as ‘’Nidhanshanti’’ ritual is concerned, it cannot be said that presence of the applicant is absolutely necessary for that purpose,” read a part of the order issued by additional sessions judge SR Navandar on Monday.

In an order issued on September 15, the court had allowed him to visit his terminally ill father on September 16.

“But he had passed away on the previous night. We had to get another order on September 16 when we reached there and found that his father had passed on the previous night. The funeral grounds were merely 100 meters from where he was allowed to visit. However, he was not allowed to move without a court order,” said Ichalkaranjikar.

In conclusion, the court observed that it “is not a very easy task” to allow the accused to be taken back home as it “creates a burden on the law executing machinery”.

Dr Tawade, an ear-nose-throat surgeon and a member of the Sanatan Sanstha has been in jail since June 2016 when he was arrested from Panvel for being the mastermind in the murder. Dr Dabholkar was shot dead on the morning of August 20, 2013, on the Omkareshwar bridge in Pune.

The accused in the case have been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).