Court upholds conviction of Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi in parking dispute case

A sessions court in Mumbai upheld the conviction of Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi, who was found guilty of assaulting a man over a parking dispute in 2005. The court reduced the one-year prison term given to him by a magistrate court, and released him on a bond of good behaviour.

While passing the order, the court directed him to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to the victim as compensation.In November 2016, a local court at Andheri had convicted the actor under Section 325 of the IPC (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and sentenced him to a one-year imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 20,000.

Pancholi was later granted bail on a bond of Rs 15,000 and cash bail of Rs 12,000.
Pancholi moved the sessions court against the local court order, and filed an appeal challenging the conviction awarded to him.According to the prosecution case, on August 21, 2005, the actor had attacked a neighbour, Pradeep Pashine, from his apartment building, in the parking lot.

According to Pashine's statement in court, when he entered the parking lot of his building, Magnum Opus, that evening, he found his parking space occupied by another vehicle, which turned out to be Pancholi's. So, he parked his car in front of it.

An hour later, he got a call from the building watchman, asking him to move his car. When Pashine opened the door of his car, Pancholi attacked him. Pashine, who suffered a nosebleed in the assault, asked his wife to call the police.

Pancholi's wife, Zarina Wahab, tried calming the situation by dissuading them from making the call. But Pancholi continued to threaten Pashine, who then went ahead and filed a police complaint.

A complaint under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC was filed against Pancholi.(UNI)