Overview

• The special MCOCA court in Beed rejected Walmik Karad’s discharge plea in the December abduction and torture-murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
• Prosecutors submitted draft charges reflecting a 1,200-plus-page CID chargesheet, proposing 12 to 13 counts for each of the eight accused.
• Remaining discharge applications by seven other defendants are to be consolidated and heard alongside framing of charges at the August 4 court session.
• Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam accused the repeated petitions of serving as delay tactics and opposed Karad’s bail application.
• The case revolves around a disputed ₹2 crore extortion bid linked to wind energy projects and involves an aide to NCP leader Dhananjay Munde.