Man gets 2 year RI for giving false evidence in court

Press Trust Of India, New Delhi, October 24, 2010

 

A Delhi court today awarded rigorous imprisonment (RI) for a period of two years, to a man convicted for deliberately giving false evidence in judicial proceedings. 

 

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Vinod Yadav refused to show any leniency to convict Jagbir Singh, as witnesses turning hostile had an adverse impact on conviction rates.

 

"This court has noticed that on account of persons deposing falsely in the court, a lot of criminals go unpunished. As a consequence thereof, the general public gets the feeling that by deposing falsely in the court of law, the accused can get away," he said.

However, taking into account the fact that the convict had two school-going children to support and had faced trial for 10 years, the court awarded him rigorous imprisonment for two years only against the maximum jail term of seven years for perjury.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, besides ordering him to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation to the state.

It rejected a plea of the defense counsel that Jagbir be released on probation.


Jagbir was held guilty under section 197 (giving false evidence) of the IPC, following a complaint filed by Metropolitan Magistrate M S Rohilla.

Rohilla had to acquit an accused in 1999 in a case lodged under section 304A (rash and negligent act causing death) of IPC due to flip-flops by Jagbir, a key eyewitness, during the trial.

In the complaint, the magistrate had said Jagbir and Lala Ram, who were eye-witnesses in a case lodged at Bara Hindu Rao police station in 1992, had deposed falsely.

The trial against Lala Ram was abated as he died during the proceedings.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Man-gets-2-year-RI-for-giving-false-evidence-in-court/Article1-617102.aspx

Former chief of Dasna jail booked for prisoner’s murder

Peeyush Khandelwal, Hindustan Times, Email Author, Ghaziabad, October 21, 2010

Former Dasna jail superintendent VK Singh was booked for murder on Thursday. An FIR was registered against Singh and others in connection with the mysterious death of Frontier Mail serial bomb blasts suspect Mohammed Shakeel last year. The case was registered at Masoori police station on the direction of Ghaziabad Chief Judicial Magistrate.

Besides Singh, the court ordered to file an FIR against deputy jailer Ramji Singh, two constables and some other staff.

Confirming the court’s order,  senior superintendent of police Raghubir Lal said the officials were booked under sections 302 (murder) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy).

The series of events that led to murder and criminal conspiracy charges against the jail officials was the suspected custodial death of Frontier Mail serial bomb blast accused Mohammed Shakeel, who had allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at Dasna Jail Complex in June 2009. However, his post-mortem report could not ascertain the exact reasons that led to his death. Following allegations of foul play by his family, a chemical analysis of victim’s viscera was carried out which revealed death due to poisoning.

“He didn't die of asphyxiation due to hanging as projected by the jail officials. We approached the court, saying that he was killed inside the jail complex. A chief judicial magistrate also conducted an inquiry into the incident and later the court ordered to lodge an FIR against jail officials,” said Subhash Tyagi, Shakeel’s advocate.

Shakeel’s brother, Mohammed Habib, who is also a complainant in the case, alleged that Shakeel was murdered under a criminal conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Singh, who is presently posted at the Bareilly Central Jail, told the Hindustan Times that he was on a five-day official tour for forensic science training session in Delhi at the time of the incident. “Even our deputy jailer Ramji Singh was on leave on the day Shakeel died. The forensic reports from Lucknow have confirmed that he didn’t die due to poisoning. The allegations against us are not true and would come out clear in police investigations,” Singh said.

Shakeel and his accomplice Aamir were the prime suspects in the 1997 Frontier Mail serial bomb blasts. Around 15 FIRs were lodged against the duo in Delhi and two in Ghaziabad under various sections of the Explosives Act and the IPC. Before 2005, the two suspects faced trials in Delhi and were lodged at the Tihar jail.

Later, they were transferred to Dasna jail to face trial in cases lodged against them at Ghaziabad.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Former-chief-of-Dasna-jail-booked-for-prisoner-s-murder/Article1-616134.aspx

Court acquits youth after six years as cops fail to prove crime

Sumit Saxena, Hindustan Times, Email Author, New Delhi, November 08, 2010

 

In yet another incident of policemen fabricating a case, a youth faced a six-year-long trial for possessing a knife, a crime that was never proven. The court termed the case a “cooked-up” story, as the policemen could not prove that the knife was recovered in their presence. Metropolitan magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma was in for surprise as policemen, who recorded their statement in the case, were giving different versions of the incident and were never consistent. 

The court observed that the weapon could have been allegedly planted on the accused.

Moreover, the lack of documented facts in records raised suspicion about the circumstances under which the police registered an FIR against the accused.

According to the prosecution, around 4.30 pm on April 28, 2004 at Shyam Lal College, which falls under the jurisdiction of Shahdara police station, Suhail was held with a 24-cm-long knife. The weapon was found to be in his possession without a license or permit in contravention of a notification issued by the Delhi administration. Subsequently, he was booked under Section 25 of the Arms Act. 

The judge said, “The prosecution has failed to bring any such material on record, which would have gone to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, holding him guilty for the offence alleged to have been committed by him, resulting in his conviction and sentence.”

The court also noted that the policemen deposed that they had asked public persons (eye witnesses present in a case of recovery at a public place) to join the investigation, but the latter had refused. Despite that no written notice was issued to those who refused to join the investigation.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/tabloid-news/newdelhi/Court-acquits-youth-after-six-years-as-cops-fail-to-prove-crime/Article1-623655.aspx

Ragging case: Kachroo killers get 4 years jail

HT Correspondent, Email Author, Dharamsala, November 12, 2010

 

A court in Dharamsala on Thursday sentenced four final-year medical students in Himachal Pradesh to four years’ rigorous imprisonment for brutally beating first-year student Aman Kachroo and causing his death in March 2009. Aman bled to death following severe injuries to his head inflicted by the students who ragged him and others in the hostel of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College in Tanda town in Kangra district. Aman died in the medical college hospital soon after being taken there by fellow students.

His death had made headli-nes in the national media and public outrage prompted the state government to set up a fast-track court to hear the case.

Dharamsala additional district and sessions judge Puren-der Vaidya held the accused — Ajay Verma, Naveen Verma, Mukul Sharma and Abhinav Verma — guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
But the verdict came as a disappointment to the Kachroo family.  “We are not happy with the quantum of punishment that has been given to the accused. We feel that the quantum has diluted the message,” said Aman’s father, Rajendra Kachroo, from Gurgaon.

The four accused stood motionless in court, murmuring prayers while the judgment was being delivered on Thursday. After the verdict, they sat quietly on the benches outside the courtroom while their parents consoled them.