Mumbai Mayor and BJP corporator Ritu Tawde has been directed to pay Rs 300 by a Mumbai sessions court after she repeatedly failed to appear before the court in a 2016 case involving the alleged assault of two municipal school teachers.
The court allowed Tawde’s fresh application seeking exemption from personal appearance but imposed a cost of Rs 300 on her. Two other accused in the case also received the same direction. The amount has to be deposited before the next hearing, scheduled for October 7.
The case dates back to July 29, 2016, when Tawde was a BJP corporator. According to the prosecution, Tawde and six others entered a municipal Urdu-medium school in the Vakola area following a dispute over the transfer of a teacher who was suffering from cancer.
The prosecution alleges that a heated argument took place with the school management, after which two teachers were allegedly assaulted. An FIR in connection with the incident was registered at Vakola police station on August 11, 2016.
The matter has now reached the stage where charges have been framed against Tawde and the other accused, with the trial set to begin.
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During the recent hearing, Additional Sessions Judge G G Bhansali noted that Tawde had already been given exemption from appearing in court as a “last chance”. The court also observed that despite earlier orders, the accused had continued to remain absent and file fresh exemption applications.
Tawde’s lawyer again requested that she be allowed to remain absent from the hearing. The court accepted the request but imposed the Rs 300 cost.
Tawde has denied the prosecution’s version of events. She has claimed that her presence at the school was coincidental and that she was not connected to the alleged mob incident.
Earlier this year, the sessions court had rejected Tawde’s plea seeking discharge from the case. The court found sufficient material on record to frame charges against her, based on statements from the alleged victims and other witnesses.
The case will next come up before the court on October 7, when further proceedings are expected.
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