Gangster Chhota Rajan moves Bombay High Court against three conviction orders of Mumbai MCOCA Court

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday admitted three appeals filed by underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje @ Chhota Rajan assailing orders passed by Special Courts in Mumbai convicting him of offences under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). (Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje @ Chhota Rajan v. Central Bureau of Investigation & Ors.).Advocate Karl Rustom Khan appearing for Rajan informed the Court that there had been a delay of a few days in filing the appeals against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to COVID-19 pandemic and requested that the same be condoned..Justice Anuja Prabhudessai acceded to the request after Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat appearing for CBI made a statement that he won't be raising any objections to the delay being condoned in filing the appeals. .In his appeals filed through Advocate Tushar Kandhare, Rajan challenged the following conviction orders:.1. Conviction in August 2019 under Section 307 of the IPC and under the MCOCA for attempting to murder industrialist Bailur Raghavendra Shetty in 2012. Special MCOCA Judge AT Wankhede sentenced Rajan to 8 years of imprisonment with a penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs..2. Conviction in January 2021 under Section 385 of IPC (putting fear of injury for attempt to extortion) in the case where Rajan was accused of extorting money worth Rs. 26 crores from a businessman in Panvel, Mumbai in 2015.Wankhede acquitted Rajan of the offences under the provision of MCOCA. The Special Judge sentenced Rajan to 2 years of imprisonment with a penalty of Rs. 5000..3. Conviction in March 2021 under Section 307 of IPC, provisions of MCOCA and Arms Act for attempting to kill builder Ajay Himmatlal Gosaliya.Wankhede sentenced Rajan to 10 years of imprisonment with a penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs..Rajan had been extradited from Bali to India in 2015 and has been lodged at Tihar Jail in Delhi since then..Khan stated that the main contention in all the appeals was that there was no direct evidence against Rajan in all three cases.He apprised the Court that Rajan had completed a term of over 5 years out of the total sentence awarded to him till date.The term in prison was more than half of the maximum sentence awarded to him, while the co-accused in the cases were all released on bail, Khan argued.The matter is likely to be listed for hearing after 2 weeks the CBI files its response to the appeals..[Read orders of the Special MCOCA Court challenged by Rajan]