Ranjana Desai, J.

1. The appellant is accused 7 in MCOCA Special Case No.2 of 2007 pending in the court of Special Judge (under MCOCA), Pune. In this appeal filed under Section 12 of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crimes Act, 1999 (for short, “the MCOCA”), the appellant has challenged order dated 19/8/2009 whereby his application for discharge was rejected.

2 The prosecution case needs to be shortly stated. It is as under:

The appellant along with other accused hatched conspiracy and committed murder of Sandeep Mohol (for convenience, “the deceased”) on 4/10/2006 at about 11.30 a.m. while he was proceeding in his four wheeler near a traffic signal near Paud Flyover Bridge, Paud Road, Pune. The appellant and others committed murder of the deceased with the aid of chopper, sickle, revolver, etc. on account of previous enmity and rivalry between the two gangs. The appellant heads the Ganesh Marane Gang and all the accused are members of the said gang. The appellant and other members of the organized crime syndicate have committed several offences of similar nature in the past to gain an edge over the rival gang and to achieve supremacy in the local area. The appellant