Bombay HC stays life sentence, grants bail to Narendra Dhabolkar muder accused Sachin Andhure

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 18 (ANI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sachin Andhure, accused in the Narendra Dhabolkar murder case and also put a stay on the 2024 life imprisonment sentence.
Activist and rationalist Narendra Dhabolkar was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013, while out for a morning walk. In the case, a Pune sessions court in 2024 had sentenced two people while acquitting three others.
Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andhure were given life imprisonment for the murder.
Padma Shri awardee Narendra Dhabolkar was a social worker working to eradicate superstition. He founded the Maharashtra Andhrashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), also called the Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra.
He regularly questioned people who claimed to perform miracles with a large following. MANS, under his leadership, drafted the 'Anti-Jaadu Tona Bill' (Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance), which was enacted in 2013.
In 2024, A Special Court in Pune sentenced two men to life imprisonment and acquitted three, including key accused Virendrasinh Tawde. Apart from life imprisonment for Andhure and Kalaskar, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh, while ENT surgeon Virendrasinh Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Reading out the order in a courtroom, Additional Sessions Judge (Special Court) PP Jadhav said that the prosecution had proved the charges of murder and conspiracy against Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, and they have been awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
Pune police had initially probed the case. The CBI took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court order and arrested Tawde, linked to the Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016.
According to the prosecution, Tawde was allegedly one of the masterminds of the murder, a charge they were unable to prove in court. The prosecution at the time had claimed Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawde and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar's organisation. (ANI)