MUMBAI, July 22 -- More than two decades after two BJP functionaries were accused of barging into a police station and threatening officers during a late-night crackdown on a party worker, a city sessions court acquitted them for lack of evidence. The prosecution failed to establish the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, said the court. "In the absence of cogent, consistent, and reliable evidence, both the accused are entitled to the benefit of doubt," observed additional sessions judge Satyanarayan R Navander, in the 38-page judgment delivered on July 19. The two functionaries, Gopal Chinaiyya Shetty, 71, and Ganesh Dattaram Khankar, 52, were accused of criminally intimidating and obstructing police officers while they were taking action against a BJP activist, Netaji Shinde, under provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act. As per the FIR, around 1am on September 10, 2004, the two allegedly stormed into the police station, hurled abuses, and threatened the on-duty constables with consequences if they proceeded to take action against Shinde. They were then arrested and released on bail the same day. A trial initially commenced before a magistrate but it was transferred to the sessions court in June this year after the magistrate realised that offences under Section 353 of the IPC must be tried at the sessions court. The informant's testimony and key prosecution witness, Constable Udesh Mohite, were crucial to the acquittal. Constable Mohite turned hostile during the trial, claiming he could not recall the incident and even denied having filed a complaint. When cross-examined by the prosecution, he admitted to being pushed and abused by the accused but failed to confirm whether the act was intentional. The court found his oral testimony "extremely weak and unreliable." The court also pointed out that no other police officers named in the FIR corroborated the account. The case took over 21 years from FIR registration to verdict, and more than seven years from the first charge-sheeting in 2018 to the final judgment....