Click to play videoMumbai: A special magistrate's court in Mumbai court has convicted senior Shiv Sena leader Madhukar Sarpotdar and two others in a 1993 Mumbai riots case.
Magistrate RC Bapat Sarkar has convicted Sarpotdar along with two Shiv Sena activists -Ashok Shinde and Jaywant Parad - for making inflammatory speeches and causing enmity between religious groups during the riots. Sarpotdar was later granted bail by the court.
He has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000.
"I will not comment on the court's judgement. It has to be honoured. It was not a political procession but a religious one. My party will stand by me. I will appeal against the judgement," Sarpotdar told CNN-IBN.
On Friday, a key witness in the case had identified Sarpotdar as the person who gave a provocative speech on December 27, 1992, near a Ganesh Temple in Bandra.
However, the sentence for all three convict including Sarpotdar has been suspended till August 16 on an application filed by the defence lawyer. They will now approach the Sessions Court against the conviction.
Other co-accused Umesh Pawar, Shantaram Sarvantar and Pradeep Khanvilkar were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
(With inputs from Shoaib Ahmed and Toral Varia)
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