top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

HC suspends second convict’s lifer, grants bail

Exactly 13 years after rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on a Pune road the Bombay High Court suspended the life sentence of convict Sachin Prakashrao Andure and granted him bail, pending his appeal against conviction, here on Tuesday. A division bench of Justice S. V. Kotwal and Justice R. R. Bhonsale extended to Andure the benefit of ‘parity’ with co-convict, Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar - who was granted bail by the high court in April this year....

HC suspends second convict’s lifer, grants bail

Exactly 13 years after rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on a Pune road the Bombay High Court suspended the life sentence of convict Sachin Prakashrao Andure and granted him bail, pending his appeal against conviction, here on Tuesday. A division bench of Justice S. V. Kotwal and Justice R. R. Bhonsale extended to Andure the benefit of ‘parity’ with co-convict, Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar - who was granted bail by the high court in April this year. With Andure’s release, both men convicted in the Dabholkar murder case are now out on bail pending their respective appeals. Senior Advocate Niteen Pradhan, representing Andure, argued that the prosecution case rested substantially on an uncorroborated extra-judicial confession. He also highlighted the absence of a formal Test Identification Parade (TIP) to establish Andure’s identity and the failure to recover the murder weapon used in the crime. While granting bail to Kalaskar five months ago, the high court had taken note of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s failure to conduct a TIP. Identification based on photographs shown to witnesses while the accused was in custody was consequently questioned. Time in Custody The court had also noted then that Kalaskar had spent more than seven-and-a-half years in custody, and there was little likelihood of his appeal being taken up in the near future. The same considerations have now paved the way for Andure’s release on bail, and the detailed court order with the reasoning is awaited. In an interim application, Andure had also challenged his conviction for life and sought bail before the High Court through his counsel Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, which has now been allowed. On August 20, 2013 Dr. Dabholkar, 67, a physician, rationalist and founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), was gunned down while on his morning walk at Pune’s Omkareshwar Bridge. The sensational killing triggered widespread outrage and renewed demands for action against forces opposing his campaign against superstition besides creating a major political upheaval. Initially the Pune Police probed the case and following a petition filed by the slain medico’s daughter Mukta Dabholkar in the high court, it was transferred to the CBI in 2014. The trial began in September 2021 and finally on May 10, 2024, the Pune Sessions Court convicted Andure and Kalaskar of murder and conspiracy, plus awarded them life imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs. 5-Lakhs each. The prosecution had alleged that Andure was one of the shooters, but the trial court acquitted three others – an ENT surgeon Dr. Virendrasingh Tawade described as the alleged mastermind, a lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar and activist Vikram Bhave - for lack of evidence. Nevertheless, Mukta Dabholkar filed appeals against the acquittals of Tawade, Punalekar and Bhave which are pending before the high court for almost two years. Incidentally, Sachin P. Andure, Sharad B. Kalaskar and Dr. Virendrasinh Tawade were also named as accused – and later enlarged on bail - in the shocking killing of Left wing intellectual and CPI leader Govind Pansare who was killed near his home in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015. All the accused in the two murder cases reportedly harboured links with a right-wing organisation, the Sanatan Sanstha, which had later strongly denied any involvement in the crime.

Indian Shipbuilding A Must Win Marathon

Shipbuilding

With a coastline of 7500 KM, it is hard to imagine, that for the first 20 years (1947-1967) India had no ‘shipping ministry’. In 1967 a Shipping ministry “coupled” with ROAD transport was established. Since then, this ministry has been on a name changing ride, not once, not twice but six times. In 2009 the “ROAD Transport and Highways” was de-coupled and ‘Shipping’ ministry was formed. Turning point came in 2015 with a clear maritime vision for 2030 and 2047. Ministry was re-christened, aptly to Ministry of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” in 2020.


Why is Shipbuilding important for a country?

a. A Shipyard becomes an opportunity hub and like a queen bee requires the support of an industrial colony to manufacture machinery and equipment.

b. National Shipyards support fleet renewal needs of the Navy.

c. Contributes to national GDP, increases inflow of FOREX.


Korea shipbuilding is 8% of GDP. Japan’s automobile industry is 2.9% of GDP. India’s shipbuilding a meagre 0.000578% of GDP. In context, India’s pharmaceutical industry, ranked third largest in the world is 1.72% of India’s GDP.


International Shipbuilding Market

The market is estimated to reach around USD 200 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.84%. While India is at bottom with 0.07% of world share, behind Philippines 1.5% and Vietnam 1%, however on the positive side, India has done well in taking care of its defence needs, with 37 of 39 Naval ships being built in India yards. Rear Admiral S Shrikhande researching on maritime as a Fellow at Wollongong University, Australia, says “Shipbuilding in India needs both, serious incentivisation and dogged determination and not harping on being a big ship breaking country. That Garden Reach shipyard has a $54 million order for merchant ships from a German owner, is a good sign.”


Were Shipyards of 20th century in Flight mode?

Prominent shipyards in India were built in the colonial period. Mazagon Dock 1774, Garden reach 1884, Hindustan shipyard 1941 to cater to British navy and merchant fleet needs. Cochin shipyard 1972, Adani Katupalli 2013, Reliance Naval and Engineering, Rajula Gujarat 1997 and others have limited capacity, hence a lot more work to do. Capt. Subhangshu Dutt (Singapore) a mariner and now a shipowner, says “GOI should hold hands in any collaboration till the marriage with the foreign entity is reasonably stable. He also suggests that “new shipbuilding sites should be given to existing successful shipyards since they have decades of experience and talent. Consortium of 3 or more parties may also be good idea”.


Shipbuilding GOLD

As per SPLASH report the demand for LCO2 carriers could reach 2,500 ships by 2050. As per other estimates, 40% of global fleet of ships could have wind propulsion by 2050. A surge in such vessels is due to an unparallel waves of decarbonization in the shipping industry. Demand for ships with ‘carbon neutral’ badges, such as Dual fuel, Wind assisted, Nuclear fuel ships, Hydrogen powered ships, Liquified CO2 (LCO2) carrier, is outstripping supply. A must in the ‘bucket list’ of every Shipyard. Pinning down a standard ROI in shipbuilding is not easy, but experts suggest it could range from 4% to 15% for the high demand ‘carbon neutral’ ships. While an LNG new build vessel could cost US$ 250 million upwards.


International collaboration

On China’s shipbuilding success story, Manoj Pandalanghat (Singapore) a mariner and ship owner believes that “China has around 50 active Shipyards. Each have a few large dry docks. In each dock two or more large vessels are built simultaneously. Thus, a single yard is able to roll out 2/3 vessels/month, 36 vessels/year and 50 shipyards roll out 1800 vessels/year”.


China could be a jaldi-5, but India needs a sturdy Mount Fiji. Besides technology, Japanese bring the most important hand baggage of soft-skills and culture, essential for success from keel laying to delivery. Maruti’s is a standing example.


Food for thought for New Delhi

a. Expertise: Hire Naval Architects and shipbuilding experts with current international experience.

b. Government assistance: Land, Financial support, subsidies and timebound clearances.

c. Monitoring: PMO should monitor the first 5 to 10 years till Shipbuilding takes-off on this long-haul flight to destination 2047.


India’s Shipbuilding is expected to grow to $237 billion by year 2047. On a back of the envelope calculations this works out to about 4% of India’s 2047 projected GDP of $ 5 trillion. While cars are driven on roads, however the Ministry of roads and transport has little to do with “Automobile manufacturing”. On a similar note, ‘Shipbuilding’ as an industry has little to do with Ports, Shipping and Waterways, thus it may be worthwhile to consider a separate ‘Ship-building’ wing in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways headed by a dynamic cabinet rank minister. Since 2047 targets are stiff and an uphill task, so in all probabilities, the officials in Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways are likely to push beneath the carpet, delays and failures of Shipbuilding with sweet success stories of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” and if this does happen then India will not only miss the Shipbuilding bus of 21st century but a lot more from a national security and strategic perspective.


(The author is a Shipping and Marine consultant. Member Singapore Shipping Association and empaneled with IMO as a specialist consultant. Views personal.)

Comments

bottom of page