PANDURANG CHANDRAKANT MHATRE . vs STATE OF MAHARASHTRA — Crl.A. No. 986/2007

CASE SUMMARY: Pandurang Chandrakant Mhatre v. State of Maharashtra (Crl.A. 986/2007) Outcome: Appeal allowed in part. The Supreme Court upheld life imprisonment convictions for three accused (A-2, A-3, A-12) under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC (murder with unlawful assembly), but acquitted five others (A-4, A-5, A-6, A-10, A-11) of murder charges and reduced their sentences to 3 years RI for Section 326 (grievous hurt) read with Section 149. All eight appellants remain convicted under Sections 148 and 326 read with Section 149. Key Facts: On April 3, 1988, in Phunde village, members of two rival political factions clashed at a temple fair. An armed group attacked Congress-I party workers; the victim Suresh Atmaram Gharat was chased and killed. The trial court acquitted all 19 accused, citing insufficient eyewitness testimony. The High Court reversed and convicted eight accused. Direction: Five acquitted accused (A-4, A-5, A-6, A-10, A-11) must surrender within one month to serve remaining sentence. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.