A SPECIAL court acquitted 36 members of the then undivided Shiv Sena , including MP Ravindra Waikar, MLA Mahesh Sawant, former Mumbai Mayor Shraddha Jadhav, and leaders Kiran Pawaskar and Vishakha Raut, in connection with a case filed in 2005 related to protests against its then expelled member and now BJP leader, Narayan Rane.

“Although it was an unfortunate episode witnessed by the city at large, the identification of the accused is not established in this case. It cannot be said with certainty that the accused were members of the unlawful assembly that committed the riot, even though they were members of the Shiv Sena party,” special judge S R Navander said in the order made available Wednesday.

The members were booked on charges including unlawful assembly, rioting, use of criminal

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