The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court (HC), comprising Justice ZA Haq and justice NB Suryawanshi, on Tuesday granted 28-day furlough to gangster Arun Gawli, who is serving a life term in Nagpur Central Prison.
The prosecution strongly opposed grant of leave to Gawli citing his criminal antecedents and threat to law and order due to his release. Gawli moved a furlough leave application for release from prison, but it was rejected by the authorities stating that he was the head of criminal gang and if he was released on furlough, there was every possibility of law and order situation.
According to Gawli, he was released on parole and furlough in eight occasions and each time, he had surrendered before the jail authorities and there was no breach of any conditions imposed. Initially, Gawli had approached the High Court with a prayer to give directions to DIG Prisons to decide his application for grant of furlough. He had preferred application on November 30, 2019 but after passage of more than seven months, his application was not decided. The High Court had directed authorities to decide the application. The application came to be rejected on June 26 on the ground that Gawli was a gang leader and possibility of commission of crime cannot be ruled out if he was released on furlough.
Gawli was active in the Mumbai underworld since the 1970s and was engaged in a bloody gang war with Dawood Ibrahim’s gang till the 1990s.
