Former Shiv Sena MLA granted bail

MNS leader and former Shiv Sena MLA Parshuram Uparkar was today granted bail by Bombay High Court in connection with a case in which he was charged with stopping police from discharging duty in 2008 at Malvan in Sindhudurg district.
Justice M S Sonak granted him bail in the sum of Rs 25,000 on a plea made by his lawyers Archit Sakhalkar and Rajendra Shirodkar.
The judge admitted Uparkar's appeal against his conviction and called for records and proceedings of the case from the trial, while placing the matter for hearing after two months.
Uparkar was booked on March 3, 2008, when he was leading a procession of around 200 Shiv Sena workers to Tahsildar's office to agitate over a local issue. He was stopped by police along with the workers from entering the office, following which there was a scuffle.

Uparkar, who was Shiv Sena MLA at that time, and two others were booked under Section 353 of IPC for disturbing police from performing duty. All the three were convicted by a local Magistrate for the offence. They went in appeal in a Sessions court which convicted Uparkar but acquitted the other two.
The Magistrate had sentenced them to one year imprisonment. However, the punishment was reduced to one month by the Sessions court.
Being aggrieved, Uparkar filed an appeal in the High Court.
Uparkar's lawyers argued that the trial court had erred in convicting them as they were merely participating in a political agitation.