Chief Govt pleader refuted argument that Walmik Karad's arrest was illegal

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:  The Chief Government pleader on Tuesday, refuted the argument made by the defence in a previous hearing that the arrest of Walmik Karad, the main accused in the murder case of Massajog Sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, was 'illegal'.

Chief Government Pleader Amarjit Singh Girase, citing various Supreme Court judgments, demonstrated that Walmik Karad's arrest was 'legal', addressing each point raised by the defence. The Chief Government Pleader and the complainant presented their arguments for approximately three and a half hours today. Karad's defence will present its arguments on December 17.

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Points raised by Walmik's defence

The police did not provide Walmik with written reasons for his arrest; therefore, his arrest is 'illegal'. 'MCOCA' was imposed based on 20 cases registered against Walmik. Many of these cases date back 10 years, and Karad has been acquitted in many of them, while others are still pending. Sudarshan Ghule and the other accused are not involved in these cases, so Walmik is not a member of an organised crime syndicate. The MCOCA order was approved incorrectly. A combined chargesheet was filed for the offences. The audio and video clips were not seized from the original mobile phone. The prosecution refuted the points raised by Karad's lawyers.

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How points were refuted

When Walmik was arrested on December 31, 2024, he was given written reasons for his arrest, and his signature was obtained on the document. The investigating officer had submitted this letter to the magistrate's court in Keij and obtained the signature.

Girase presented the certified documents to the bench. Furthermore, he referred to the Supreme Court and Nagpur HC Bench orders stating that the judgment requiring the reasons for arrest to be provided in writing is applicable from November 6, 2025, onwards.

Walmik is accused of conspiring to murder Santosh Deshmukh and instructed criminals to commit the crime. He stated that the MCOCA Act provides for a life sentence and a fine of Rs. 5 lakh for maintaining contact with criminals and instigating them to commit crimes.

He also stated that the competent authorities approved the application of MCOCA. Referring to the fact that the charge sheets for high-profile cases such as the Anjanabai Gavit case, the Mumbai blasts, and the 26/11 attack were submitted collectively, adv Girase refuted Walmik's point on this matter, stating that the hard disk from the original laptop from which the audio and video clips were taken had been sent to a forensic laboratory. Adv Sachin Salgare assisted adv Girase.