MillenniumPost
Delhi

Maruti case: 31 workers convicted, 117 acquitted

The judgment to the 2012 incident of violence at the Maruti Udyog factory in Manesar was pronounced at the District court of Gurugram on Friday.

In an extensive 808-page judgement delivered by Judge R P Goel, out of the 148 Maruti workers who were arrested by Gurugram Police, 117 have been acquitted while 31 workers have been convicted.

Out of the 31 workers convicted, 13 have been found guilty under the acts of committing murder and intent to commit murder and will be punished under Section 302 and Section 307 IPC. Eighteen other workers have been found guilty of committing riots in the Maruti Udyog factory. The quantum of punishment to the convicted workers is expected to be announced by March 17.

The case, which has been mired in a lot of controversy, started off with uncontrollable rampage by a mob of Maruti workers on July 18, 2012 at the Maruti Udyog factory in Manesar.

The violence had resulted in large scale damages in the factory and serious injuries to the management workers.

The incident had also resulted in the death of Awanish Kumar Dev, the General Manager (Human Resources), who was first brutally beaten and then burnt alive by the violent mob.

The shocking incident had later resulted in the termination of 546 workers and arrest of 148 by the Gurugram Police.

Challenging the judgement, Advocate Rajender Pathak, counsel of the accused workers, stated that they will now approach the Punjab and Haryana high court against the order.

"The prosecution had stated that this was not a planned murder and the acquittal of 117 workers vindicates our stand. The case is a perfect example of the management in Maruti Udyog trying to suppress the rights of the workers union in its factories," mentioned Pathak. The Public prosecutor Anurag Hooda, however, demanded for the harshest punishment and asked for death penalty for the convicted workers.

A lot of controversial observations were made by the judge while announcing the judgment. Out of the 117 Maruti Udyog workers who were acquitted, there was no FIR filed by the Gurugram Police against ninety of them.

The judgement also stated that around 22 workers who were charged, had nothing to do with the violence.

"For the past five years, I had to not only face legal pressure but also societal pressure. I have lost a crucial part of life because of this unfortunate incident. I will now only want to be taken back at work by the management of Maruti Udyog," said Sukhdev, one of the workers who was acquitted.

Meanwhile, to make sure that there was no violence after the verdict, security was tightened in various parts of the city. In sensitive areas around the Maruti Udyog factory at Manesar and around the district courts, the Gurugram District Administration had imposed Section 144 to prevent any untoward incident of violence.
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