The Supreme Court granted bail to Gawli after noting that he had already spent more than 17 years in jail and that his appeal is still pending. (Videograb)
Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, popularly known as “Daddy”, has been released from Nagpur Central Jail after spending almost 18 years behind bars. The 70-year-old walked out of prison on Wednesday, August 28, after the Supreme Court granted him bail.
Family members, lawyers, and supporters welcomed him outside the jail around 12:30 pm, marking the end of his long imprisonment.
The Supreme Court granted bail to Gawli after noting that he had already spent more than 17 years in jail and that his appeal is still pending.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh observed, “Admittedly, the appellant has been under incarceration for 17 years and three months.”
The court highlighted his old age and decided to release him on bail until the final hearing, which is scheduled for February next year.
Arun Gawli was arrested in 2006 for the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. The killing, which took place in 2007, was investigated under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In 2012, a Mumbai sessions court sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹17 lakh. The Bombay High Court upheld this verdict in 2019. Following this, Gawli approached the Supreme Court, where he was granted bail after almost two decades in prison.
Gawli, once a dreaded gangster in Mumbai, rose to political prominence in the early 2000s. He was elected as an MLA in 2004 from Mumbai’s Chinchpokli constituency as a candidate of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, a party he founded.
His gang was allegedly run from his residence in Dagdi Chawl, Byculla, which became infamous during his peak years of underworld activities.
Earlier this year, in May 2025, Gawli, his brother, and five others were acquitted by a special court in a 2005 extortion case. This acquittal added to the relief for Gawli, who had already served nearly 18 years in prison on multiple charges.
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