STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. BHARAT CHAGANLAL RAGHANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Under the heaps of voluminous record in the form of various paper books spread over thousands of pages, lies the hidden story relating to the new 'merchants of death and destruction.' Upon dissection, when peeped into, it reflects the woeful situation prevalent in the society where writs of the organised criminal gangs run which affect the peaceful and innocent citizens of the country. This world of gangsters, popularly known as the 'underworld,' comprises of various gangs headed by notorious dons for whom, the only valuable thing in the life is 'wealth' and the useless thing, the 'life' of others. Deaths are sold by these dons at their asking price and purchased by those who resort to have immediate results for their enrichment with the deflation of their otherwise inflated money bags. To this underworld, the unemployed, thoughtless and dejected youths are attracted and the boses of the gangsters leave no stone unturned to utilize the services of such frustrated and misled youth for the commission of crimes, to further their evil designs. Contract killings by employing mercenary killers, after receipt of consideration known as 'supari' are the orders of the day, particularly in commercial cities of the country where the race for getting enriched overnight is going on at jet speed.

(2.) Mumbai, (with its erstwhile name Bombay) known as the commercial capital of the country, is at the top where such crimes are committed every now and then. Piling of the cases in the Courts of law without their disposal particularly with respect to disputes relating to property is reported to have created settle centres of unusual trade where private Courts are held by the gangsters and disputes are solved according to the will of those who can pay as per demand of the criminal dons. It is said that the unaccounted accumulation of black money in the hands of a few have encouraged the gangsters to widen the scope of their activities. Because of the money and muscle power, they are in a position of procuring highly sophisticated weapons. Such gangs collect money from various businessman, land developers, persons carrying on the illegal activities in gambling dens, drug traffickers, etc. Such collected money is termed as "protection money" which in Marathi referred to as "Khandani" (Khandani is a Marathi word which relates to long past history where the rulers used to collect Khandani from their subjects). A feeling is prevalent in the city that it is not the State alone which can protect the life and property of the rich and influential, but it is the criminal who render protection to such people for the consideration of the "protection money" received by them.

(3.) Such on going activities of the underworld are problems faced not only in Mumbai and this country but all over the globe. Generally known abroad as 'organised crime' has been found to be a subject of fascination in popular culture and a major criminal justice concern in the western world. Such organised crimes pose various problems to the world community concerned to combat and fight it out.