Nimbalkar murder case: All walk free

A special court here on Saturday acquitted former Maharashtra home minister Padamsinh Patil and seven others in the 2006 murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar as well as his driver, saying the prosecution failed to prove the chain of conspiracy.

- MPOST BUREAU

It also said the testimony of the prosecution’s prime witness was unreliable as there were contradictions in his statements.

The court came down heavily on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the case, for failing to gather crucial digital evidence, such as the mobile phones or call detail records (CDRs) of the accused in such a high profile murder case.

Holding that the chain of conspiracy was not proven, special CBI court judge Satyanarayan Navandar acquitted all eight accused in the case.

The judge started reading out the verdict by remarking that it was a deeply tragic incident, and said the court can only deliver a judgment within the framework of the law.

The prosecution had heavily relied primarily on the testimony of the accused-turned-approver Parasmal Jain’s testimony. However, the court found his testimony doubtful and discarded it.

The chain of circumstantial evidence is not complete. The prosecution tried to thread it with the testimony of approver, but the thread itself was so weak, the court said.

The judge found his evidence to be completely unreliable.