Pune:
In a rare case, a farmer from Dive village of Purandar taluka pleaded his own case and won it. Dnyaneshwar Gaikwad (49), a former sarpanch, decided to plead his own 9-year-old case against the Pune-based finance company, Ferry Industries, after getting disenchanted with both the lawyers he had appointed over the course of the litigation.
Gaikwad had filed a private case against Farid Ahmed Azar, director of the Pune Camp-based finance company, for alleged theft of his Tata Sumo from the Regional Transport Office (RTO).
Gaikwad had purchased the vehicle on July 21, 1999, on hire-purchase basis after procuring a loan of Rs1.25 lakh from Ferry Industries. On full repayment of the loan, the company issued a letter of cancellation of the loan to Gaikwad on September 5, 2000.
However, the finance company did not return the copy of the hire-purchase agreement, which bore Gaikwad's signature.
According to Gaikwad, he submitted an application to the RTO on September 5 to transfer the vehicle in his name. When he visited the RTO on November 2, 2000, to register the jeep in his name, a few persons allegedly sent by Azar took away the vehicle using duplicate keys.
Gaikwad told DNA, "I tried to catch the thieves, but in vain. I lodged a complaint against Azar at Bund Garden police station, but as the police did not take any action, I filed a private complaint against him in the court."
Later, the vehicle was found in Azar's possession. Gaikwad hired a lawyer and then another. Finally, he decided to plead his own case from 2008.
His efforts paid off. The court of the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) on August 26 passed the judgment in Gaikwad's favour. Judge RL Wankhade convicted Azar under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and ordered him to pay a fine of Rs5,000.
During the course of the proceedings, the vehicle was sent for inspection of damage to Pandit Automotive and an estimate of repairs to the tune of Rs4,79,836 was received from the company, prompting the court to order Azar to pay the sum to Gaikwad as compensation.
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