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NCB should be made accountable: Congress after HC judgment in Aryan Khan case

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A day after Bombay High Court ruled that there was “no prima facie evidence” against Aryan Khan and co-accused Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant for charges pertaining to “conspiracy” and “common intent” in the case lodged after the cruise ship raids, Congress leaders said that there should be provision for penalising agencies and officers.

Senior Congress spokesperson and noted lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “The Bombay High Court’s observations clear and judicious. Aryan Khan was needlessly kept in jail for 25 days at the whims and fancies of the NCB in gross abuse of law. The law should now take its course against the delinquent officers.”

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said, “High Court observations of no evidence or conspiracy in Aryan Khan case yet again highlight the need to fix accountability in form of penal consequences on agencies and the prosecution for wrongful arrests, unwarranted detention and wrongful indictment.”

He said the agencies cannot use law book as a flexi tool.

Delivering the detailed 14-page order, Justice Nitin Sambre of Bombay High Court said that considering the material brought on record by the NCB, the court has not found that prima facie, there was no positive evidence against the accused trio.

It may be recalled that Khan, Dhamecha and Merchant were granted conditional bail by the High Court on October 28 vide a speaking order and the detailed order was made available only now.

Justice Sambre further said that the NCB claim on the common intention to commit an offence under the NDPS Act, (accused) found to be in possession of commercial quantity of drugs and hatching conspiracy is “liable to be rejected”.

The court said that merely because the accused trio was travelling on the cruise cannot be grounds to invoke the offence under Section 29 (criminal conspiracy) against them.

“This court is required to be sensitive to the fact that there has to be presence of basic material in the form of evidence so as to substantiate the case of conspiracy against the applicants (accused),” Justice Sambre noted.

He further said that no drugs were found on Khan, while the quantity recovered from Dhamecha and Merchant were ‘small’ under the NDPS Act.

Under such circumstances, in order to invoke the offence of conspiracy against the accused, there has to be positive evidence about an agreement to do an unlawful act, or to do lawful act by unlawful means, and such agreement must precede with meeting of minds, but there is no such material in this case, said the court.

Crime

Mere recovery of blood-stained weapon matching deceased’s blood group not sufficient to prove murder: SC

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New Delhi, June 27: Upholding the acquittal of an accused, the Supreme Court has ruled that mere recovery of a blood-stained weapon bearing the same blood group as that of the deceased would not be sufficient to prove the charge of murder.

A bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and P.B. Varale was dealing with a criminal appeal filed by the Rajasthan government challenging a judgment of the Rajasthan High Court, which had acquitted the respondent-accused of the offence of murder.

In its impugned order, a division bench set aside the judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge in December 2008, which had convicted the respondent for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 100, and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo 3 months simple imprisonment.

During the trial, the respondent was charged with the murder of Chotu Lal, which took place on the intervening night of March 1 and 2, 2007.

Initially, an FIR was filed against unknown assailants, and at a later stage, the respondent was arraigned in the case on the basis of suspicion and circumstantial evidence.

The prosecution led circumstantial evidence in the form of motive, alleging the respondent was having an evil eye on the wife of the deceased; recovery of the weapon of offence and the FSL report indicating that the blood group on the weapon matched with the blood group of the deceased (B +ve).

Contrary to the findings of the trial court, the Rajasthan High Court opined that the prosecution could not prove the complete chain of circumstances required to bring home the guilt of the accused in the case, which was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, and proceeded to acquit the respondent.

Concurring with the view taken by the Rajasthan HC, the Justice Mehta-led Bench said: “We find that the incriminating circumstances relied upon by the prosecution, i.e., the motive and the recovery of the blood stained weapon, even taken in conjunction cannot constitute the complete chain of incriminating circumstances required to bring home the charges against the accused.”

“The High Court seems to have overlooked the FSL report, which fact was stressed upon by learned counsel for the appellant (state government). However, in our view, even if the FSL report is taken into account, then also, other than the fact that the weapon recovered at the instance of the accused tested positive for the same blood group as that of the deceased (B +ve), nothing much turns on the said report,” it added.

The apex court, relying upon a previous judgment of the apex court, opined that mere recovery of a blood-stained weapon even bearing the same blood group of the victim would not be sufficient to prove the charge of murder.

It discarded the theory of motive, saying the evidence in that regard seems to be very vague and vacillating.

The Justice Mehta-led Bench added that the law is well settled by a catena of apex court decisions that in an appeal against acquittal, interference can only be made if the only possible view based on the evidence points to the guilt of the accused and rules out his innocence.

Dismissing the appeal of the state government, the Supreme Court said: “In the present case, we are duly satisfied that the prosecution failed to lead clinching evidence to bring home the charges. The only possible view is the one taken by the High Court, i.e., the innocence of the accused.”

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Crime

Kerala HC judge files complaint of theft at his residence, police probe on

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Kochi, 27 June: The Kochi police have received a theft complaint from Kerala High Court Judge, Justice A. Badharudeen, according to officials on Friday, stating that six sovereigns of gold were missing from his residence.

The complaint, which was filed on Thursday, mentions that the gold has been stolen from the judge’s bedroom. The police have registered an FIR under Section BNS 305.

What has surprised many is that the thief has decamped with gold from a high-security guarded house located in the heart of the commercial capital of the state.

The judge registered the complaint with the Kalamassery police under which his residence falls.

After the preliminary probe, the police are now planning to prepare a list of those who need to be spoken to, as this incident occurred in the bedroom of the senior judge.

More details are awaited.

The incident has raised concerns regarding the security situation in the state. The Congress-led UDF has been accusing the state government of failing to curb the crimes.

It has been found that Kerala is a haven for organised gangs hailing from neighbouring states who specialise in robbing homes, and the cases against non-Keralaite thieves are also on the increase.

According to information prepared by the home department, which was placed before the Assembly last year, it showed 192 cases of theft involving non-Keralites were registered in 2021, and the numbers have been steadily increasing. This rose to 360 in 2022.

In 2023, the number increased further to 519, and by September 2024, a total of 307 such cases were registered. But the image of the Kerala Police got a boost when over 1,350 thieves during this period were put behind bars.

However, with regards to the case being registered in the burglary at the home of a judge, the police appear to have a tough job ahead.

Likewise, with other crimes also on the increase, the Ernakulam Police have come out with a directive to landlords who are seeking to rent out their properties. The police have urged the landlords to get a police clearance certificate from the prospective tenants from their local police station where they stayed.

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Crime

Bengal BJP worker’s murder: Absconding man arrested by CBI after 4 years

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Kolkata, June 26: After four years, a prime absconding accused in the killing of a BJP worker, Abhijit Sarkar, in the 2021 post-poll violence was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday.

The arrested person was identified as Arun Dey, for whom the CBI had earlier announced a reward of Rs 50,000. He was one of the five main accused persons in the murder of Sarkar, a resident of the Kankurgachi area in North Kolkata, during the violence that broke out after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election.

Sources said Dey was finally arrested on Thursday from a secret hideout in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. However, further details on the matter are still awaited.

Four other prime accused persons in the case, namely Sukhdeo Podder a.k.a. Sukha, Gopal Das a.k.a. Vishal, Amit and Biswajit Das a.k.a. Bomba, are still absconding.

All five of them were identified as Trinamool Congress strongmen in the area and were also known as close confidants of the ruling party legislator from Belegahta Assembly constituency in North Kolkata, Paresh Paul and Trinamool Congress councillor in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Swapan Samaddar.

Paul has already been questioned by the CBI sleuths in this connection. However, his name was not in the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the matter, which angered the family members of the slain BJP worker.

To recall, Abhijit Sarkar was killed on May 2, 2021, soon after the results of the 2021 Assembly elections were declared, where Trinamool Congress bagged a landslide victory.

The CBI took over the investigation from the Kolkata Police following an order of the Calcutta High Court. In September 2021, a trial court in Kolkata declared the five accused absconders.

Thereafter, CBI declared a reward of Rs 50,000 on each of them. Finally, after over four years, one of the five accused and absconding persons has been arrested by the CBI sleuths. He might be presented at a special court in Kolkata later in the day, and the CBI counsel is expected to seek his custody for further interrogation, sources said.

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