MCOCA accused diagnosed with AIDS; files bail plea

A 28-year-old man accused under the stringent provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act has approached the Bombay high court seeking bail on the ground that he has been diagnosed with AIDS and has only two more years to live.

The accused, lodged in the Arthur Road prison since September 2010, was recently told by doctors that he will live only two more years after he was diagnosed with AIDS and abdomen cancer.

He has prayed for release on medical grounds so that he can spend his remaining time with his family which includes a wife and two minor children aged seven and three years.

His plea is mainly based on the opinion given by the doctors of the J J Hospital who in their opinion given on December 9, 2011 have stated that due to his illness he could live up to two years more.

The accused, a native of Gujarat, is alleged to be a member of the organised crime syndicate run by wanted gangster Ravi Pujari.

According to the Mumbai police crime branch the accused and two of his associates had attempted to murder a jeweller in Oshiwara area in 2010 by using a fire arm. The police had arrested the three accused and charged them under the stringent act.

Justice A M Thipsay, before whom the plea is being heard, observed, "If animals kept in cages were being taken care of well, then he is a human being. A human approach has to be taken with him."

The court has now directed the crime branch chief to file his reply on whether they would want to oppose the bail plea. The next hearing on the plea will be held on December

19.