Judiciary that fell prey to fake encounter
As expected, all 22 accused in Sohrabuddin murder case have been acquitted for lack of evidence. In some way, it looks like the culprits themselves argued their own cases and declared themselves innocent. How can we even dream of the culprits being punished when the courts, CBI, and other investigation agencies are under the claws of mighty and powerful who are siding with the accused? Amit Shah’s name was in the forefront when it came to Sohrabuddin's murder case. If fake encounter is proved, it will mean along with the officers who executed the plan, even the leaders who ordered the killing will face jail time. One of the main accused in this case had said before the media that if these charges are proved, many others would face prison along with him.
This was an indirect threat he had issued to the leaders in Delhi. Now even the small foot soldiers in this case have been issued a clean chit. This directly means those sitting in Delhi have heaved a sigh of relief. The main investigating officer in this case had long ago revealed to the media that justice may not be done in this case for many reasons. Not only this, the government itself tried to silence the investigation officer because he knew the details of Sohrabuddin encounter and the people who masterminded it.
About 13 years ago, owing to relentless crusade by a Gujarati police officer Vasant Lalji Bhai Solanki, the killings of Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausar Bi and their assistant Tulsiram Prajapati's deaths came to light.After a long inquiry, Solanki submitted a report calling these deaths fake encounters and named every police officer who was behind these murders. Solanki had mentioned that Amit Shah was also part of these deaths and their planning, along with everyone else who had worked to end these lives. But this whole effort was reduced to dust after CBI took up this case. Ironically, government withdrew the security cover given to Solanki. He could not even visit the court. He told the media that “if a judge who was sitting on this case could die ever so suddenly, I am a retired police officer. People who are desperate to get a clean chit, can do anything for to clear up their own name.”
Solanki remembered that when Justice Brij Gopal Harikishan Loya died on December 1, 2014 in Nagpur, his security cover had been withdrawn just few days prior to that. Sohrabuddin encounter is significant for many reasons because he wasn't killed for the fact that he was a criminal. He was witness to a prominent Gujarati businessman's murder and that caused his death by murder that was plotted by the same forces. This news has been out in th media since long. Sohrabuddin knew details of the death of Gujarati BJP leader Harem Pandya's murder. He had shared with his accomplices that the death of Pandya was ordered from 'higher ups’ above.
Now why Pandya was killed is another aspect altogether. Pandya who had rebelled from the BJP had revealed the role of Gujarat government behind the muslim massacre. He had very significant information about this genocide. Reports of investigation say Pandya was murdered for the very reason. Everybody knows who was the CM and home minister around the time when these killings took place. If the culprits of Sohrabuddin murder are killed, even those who were involved in Pandya case would be brought to book as well. And the details of Gujarat genocide would be out on the open too. This would sound a death knell for Modi and Amit Shah. When things are this complicated, how can we expect Sohrabuddin encounter to be done justice to?
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
