The accused in the sensational Velim Church attack case on Friday argued before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao that the police had wrongly accused them under section 326 of the IPC for voluntarily causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons.
The goan I networkrMARGAO rrArguing before the trial court presided over by JMFC, Margao Saee Prabhudesai, during hearing on arguments before framing of charges, defence lawyers, Adv Pritam Moraes and Adv Rajiv Gomes, submitted that the accused had been falsely implicated by the police under section 326 of the IPC.rAdv Pritam Morais appearing on behalf of the accused Fr Romano Gonsalves and Adv Rajeev Gomes who represented the remaining accused persons, argued that Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code is attracted only in case grievous hurt is caused to the victim and that such hurt is caused by dangerous weapons or means. They argued that in the present case, the prosecution had relied upon the Injury Certificate submitted by the hospital, adding that in these hurt certificates, the Medical Officer had observed that the injuries caused to the victims were simple in nature. rThe duo further argued that none of the statements of the victims indicate that any grievous injury has been caused to them and as such the accused cannot be charged under Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code. rOn the other hand, Assistant Public Prosecutor Shilpa Nagvenkar insisted that the accused should be tried by the Court under 326 along with other sections of the IPC. After hearing the prosecution and the defence, the Trial Court has fixed the matter for orders on July 14, 2017. rThe trial court had earlier dropped two sections of the IPC, section 307 for attempt to murder and section 333 for causing grievous hurt to deter public servant in the discharge of his duty. rIn this case, the State has filed the chargesheet against the 22 accused persons, including the two priests, alleging that in the premises of St Francis Xavier Church on February 22, 2012, the accused persons along with a mob of about 1,500 persons had formed an unlawful rassembly and armed with stones and glass bottles, had attacked rthe police officials and caused injuries on their body and ralso attempted to commit their murder. rThe police alleged that the accused assaulted the police and thereafter restrained the staff while discharging their duties when they were rescuing the injured policemen. They were also accused for pelting stones on other police personnel, namely PSI Sandeep Kesarkar and CRPF personnel.
