Pune court acquits tree activist Vinod Jain after 16 years in PMC office paperweight case

Activist Vinod Raychand Jain, who filed petitions and Right to Information applications against illegal tree felling, had to fight a criminal case for a full 16 years. A court in Pune has now acquitted him of all charges. Jain was accused of throwing a paperweight in an office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in 2010 and threatening officials. The court set aside the sentence passed against him in 2018.

The appeal was heard by Additional Sessions Judge Moreshwar S. Kulkarni, who ended the protracted case that began with a disputed incident in the PMC's garden department in February 2010. Jain says the case was deliberately framed to silence an activist.

An FIR was registered at Deccan police station on February 17, 2010, on a complaint by Ashok Ghorpade, then the PMC's garden superintendent. According to the prosecution, Jain and co-accused Deepak Wahikar barged into the garden department's office at Sambhaji Park.

The officials alleged that Jain aggressively asked how tree felling had been permitted despite a stay order from the Bombay High Court. The prosecution also said he threw a paperweight, which broke a glass door and damaged trophies in the office, and threatened officials on duty.

Charges were framed under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code (assault or use of force to deter a public servant), Section 506 (criminal intimidation) and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. In January 2018, the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court convicted Jain and sentenced him to six months of rigorous imprisonment. He challenged the verdict through Criminal Appeal No. 80/2018.

Advocates Manish Desai and Harshad Mandke argued for Jain. They told the court that the prosecution case had many flaws and inconsistencies. A key turning point was the production of two printed copies of the FIR (Exh. 30 and Exh. 75). The prosecution says the complaint was registered on February 17, 2010, but the defence pointed out that on the printed FIR the date appeared to have been altered by hand from 18 to 17. The defence said the second copy suggested the document was filled in more than 24 hours after the alleged incident, on the night of February 18. It also appeared that the word "weight" had been added by hand after the word "paper", and the defence argued that it was inserted to build the story of a thrown paperweight.

Prosecution witnesses also did not agree on where the incident took place. The main complainant said his cabin was vandalised, but admitted in cross-examination that the small 8 ft by 8 ft cabin had no showcase or trophies. Another key official witness testified that the incident took place in an entirely different cabin, while a senior official named in the FIR said he was not in the office that day.

The defence also claimed that the seized material did not match the records. The material produced in court was in a white envelope, whereas the spot panchnama recorded that the broken glass and the paperweight were sealed in brown paper.

In his judgment, Judge Kulkarni noted that the prosecution could not produce solid and conclusive evidence proving use of force, threat or damage to property. The court also took note that Jain's social work, namely public interest litigation against illegal tree felling and use of the Right to Information Act, had brought him into conflict with PMC officials. Under Section 248(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court acquitted Jain of all charges, cancelled his bail bond and directed that any fine paid be refunded.

Reacting to the verdict, Jain said: "Truth has finally prevailed, but it took a 16-year legal battle. This case was never about an alleged office disturbance. It was a deliberate attempt by municipal officials to silence activists who expose illegal tree felling and file RTI applications against the municipal administration."

He added: "Living under the shadow of a criminal charge for nearly two decades was exhausting. But this verdict has vindicated our stand. Those who raise their voice peacefully for the environment cannot be silenced by false police cases."