Hemant Dhirajlal Banker vs The State Of Maharashtra And Anr on 14 December, 2021
12. Shri Ponda further submitted that the Applicant did not
have mens rea and there is nothing to show from the material that
he had any such mens rea in commission of the alleged offence.
He relied on the observations of a Division Bench of this Court in
the case of Surjitsingh Bhagatsingh Gambhir Vs. The State of
Maharashtra4 . It is observed in paragraph-16 of the said judgment
that before invoking and applying the offences under the said
enactment, mens rea is a necessary ingredient for charging a person
with an offence under MCOCA. In paragraph-18, it is observed that
the offence under MCOCA would necessarily require establishment
of mens rea.