SC grants bail to Gawli

 

 

 

Arun Gawli, the erstwhile Mumbai don-turned politician, got a major relief as Supreme Court on Thursday granted him bail. Gawli was serving life imprisonment in the case involving murder of Shiv Sena corporator. At present, Gawli is lodged at Central Jail in Nagpur and serving life sentence since 2007. He was convicted for murder of Mumbai’s Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. On Thursday, a bench of Justice M M Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh, in its order, mentioned that, Gawli was in jail for over 17 years and his appeal was pending before it. The order further reads that the appellant has been under incarceration for 17 years and three months.

 

Further, the bench underlined a fact that the convict is 76 years old. The apex court granted bail subject to terms and conditions imposed by the trial court. The apex court has further posted the matter for final hearing in February 2026. It may be mentioned that Gawli had challenged December 9, 2019, verdict of the Bombay High Court that upheld the life sentence given to him by the trial court.

 

Gawli shot to fame from Dagdi Chawl, a neighbourhood of Byculla, from where he ran the show. After developing political ambition, the gangster floated Akhil Bharatiya Sena and was elected MLA in 2004 from the Chinchpokli seat of Mumbai metropolis. Gawli, along with others, was arrested in 2006 and tried for the murder of Jamsandekar. In August 2012, a Sessions Court in Mumbai sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case and imposed a Rs 17 lakh fine.