Malvani hooch tragedy: Charges framed in case

Paving way for the trial in the suburban Malwani hooch tragedy, which had resulted in the death of more than 100 people, a sessions court in Mumbai on Monday framed charges against all the accused.

Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said, the court has framed charges under section 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC against all the accused.

Meanwhile, additional charges were framed against accused Leeladhar Patel under sections 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 420 (cheating) of IPC.

He said that the charge of murder is imposed because they knew the ultimate effect of their act that the person would die. “You cannot claim ignorance about the law,” he further added.

According to Mr Gharat, methanol is never advised for consumption and it was served for consumption after mixing water with it.

Some of the accused, in their bail plea, had claimed that there is no case made out against them because they were only either suppliers or sellers of illegal liquor, and not manufacturers. They claimed that since they did not manufacture the liquor, there is no case against them.

However, Mr Gharat had claimed that there is a charge of conspiracy and there is a “whole chain of events”. He had said that if these accused are removed from the chain than it would be difficult to prove the case against anybody. He also contended that they had knowledge that the liquor was poisonous and was dangerous for human beings but still indulged in this business, so there is a prima facie case against them.

Mr Gharat had also argued that this tragedy would not have happened had these accused not played their role. More than 100 people had died after consuming illegal liquor in Malwani in Malad in June last year.