The Defence team of murder accused Pravin Mahajan has punched several holes in the past two days in the prosecution’s case that he shot his elder brother BJP leader Pramod Mahajan on April 22 last year for not giving him Rs 1 crore.

The judgement in the trial, which is at its concluding stage after both parties rounded off their final arguments, is expected soon.

As the trial opened in the sessions court Pravin had denied  he had shot Mahajan. He maintained his stand during his statement in the court, and even tried to level scandalous allegations against his brother. However, Mahajan’s widow Rekha told the court that she “saw” Pravin firing at Mahajan from his pistol. Mahajan’s brother-in-law Gopinath Munde claimed that Pravin had sent an SMS to Mahajan, threatening dire consequences for not heeding his request for Rs 1 crore.

While the prosecution’s arguments were based on the testimonies of these two and other witnesses as well as the police statement given by Pravin soon after the shooting incident, the defence team led by Harshad Ponda tried to discredit the prosecution’s claims.

Ponda claimed before the court that Mahajan “sustained” bullet injuries during a “scuffle” between him and Pravin on that day. He said Rekha Mahajan did not see anything on that day as claimed by her, nor could she have  possibly pushed Pravin out of the room as Pravin is quite well built.

He quoted from testimonies of Mahajan’s daughter Poonam Rao and house maid Wankhede. The maid, who was brought before the court as the second eyewitness by the prosecution, had denied having seen Rekha covering Mahajan or pushing Pravin away, Ponda said.

Ponda said Poonam came to know about Mahajan from her husband Anand Rao, who had told her that Mahajan has suffered bullet injuries. There was no reference to Pravin in those exchanges, the lawyer insisted. On Munde’s alleged disclosure about the threatening SMS, Ponda said the defence had proved in the court that a mobile SMS could be altered using computer technology.

Ponda also wondered why the police did not seize Mahajan’s mobile, which was with Poonam for almost a year after his death, immediately after the shooting.  He pointed out that the police has seized three mobiles of Pravin from his house, but did not seize Mahajan’s mobile, which leaves the prosecution open to the charge that the SMS could have been fabricated.

Pramod’s last words
The prosecution is heavily relying on Mahajan’s last words, spoken in ambulance to Munde. “What wrong did I do that my own brother Pravin should kill me?” were those last words, which prove beyond doubt that Pravin killed him, the prosecution led by Nitin Pradhan argued. Ponda, however, said there are different versions about what Mahajan has said,and it could not be relied upon.