Mumbai, Jul 15: Filmmaker Gaurang Doshi of “Aankhen” and “Deewaar” fame today filed an appeal in the Sessions court here against his conviction on charges of subjecting his wife to cruelty.
Doshi was sentenced to undergo three years rigorous imprisonment for subjecting his wife to cruelty to fulfil his dowry demands by a Magistrate court on July 5.
“We have filed an appeal in the Sessions Court and the matter will come up for hearing in the court tomorrow,” Doshi's advocate Rishi Bhuta said.
Bhutta said the primary ground of the appeal is that though the Magistrate's court was aware that Doshi was not in the country, warrants and proclamations were issued to him.
“The court was aware that Doshi had gone abroad in the month of February with the permission of the Bombay High Court but still warrants and proclamations were sent to the Versova address of Doshi, though he was staying in his Peddar Road residence,” he said.
Bhuta said the court did not hear Doshi either at the stage of the final arguments or before sentencing.
The appeal is also on the ground that the sentence was passed in the filmmaker's absence, he added.
Doshi was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment under IPC section 498A and also asked to pay a fine of Rs 5,000. He was also sentenced to undergo one year RI under section 323 for voluntarily causing hurt to his wife Madhuri.
Besides, the film producer was awarded three years RI for committing criminal breach of trust by not returning articles belonging to his wife which she had brought as dowry. All the sentences would run concurrently.
Madhuri filed a police complaint on March 2, 2005, against Doshi following which an FIR was registered. Her lawyer Satish Maneshinde had argued that Doshi had demanded Rs five lakh from Madhuri as dowry and would often beat her up when she failed to fulfil his other dowry demands.
Doshi's daughter was one of the witnesses on which the prosecution relied upon to prove the charges of cruelty against the accused. She told the court that her mother was assaulted several times by Doshi. PTI
