Delhi riots: Court dismisses plea seeking reply from police on status of probe
New Delhi: A "roving/fishing inquiry" cannot be permitted on behalf of any accused during the judicial proceedings, a Delhi court has said while dismissing an application seeking a specific answer from the police on whether the investigation against an accused in the murder case of a head constable during the communal violence in north east Delhi in February, was complete.
During the hearing of the bail plea of Mohd Saleem Khan, arrested in the case related to alleged murder of Head Constable Ratan Lal during the riots, his counsel moved an application to bring on record certain facts of the case.
The application sought a specific answer from the Investigating Officer (IO) as to whether the charge sheet against Khan in the matter was complete or the investigation still continued.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav said the riot cases can not be equated with other criminal cases where the accused and victims stand clearly identified and the police just has to collect evidence against the accused.
"In my considered opinion, the riot cases can not be equated with other criminal cases where the accused and victims stand clearly identified and the police just have to collect evidence against the accused," the judge said.
The court further said that in riot cases, the police has to first obtain CCTV footage or video footage of the incident and then identify the persons present at the scene of crime and it was difficult to clearly identify each and every person in one go and investigate the matter
"I am also conscious of the fact that immediately after the riots, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the length and breadth of this country including the NCT of Delhi, the police administration was asked to join the COVID management in addition to maintenance of law and order and investigation of riot cases.
"Therefore, one can really not say as to whether the police loses its right to further investigate the matter or to continue to investigate qua unidentified rioters. This court can not permit a roving/fishing inquiry during the judicial proceedings in this matter as sought to be done through this application," it said.
Khan's counsel Mehmood Pracha had alleged that the IO of the case had filed two supplementary charge sheets in the matter to plug in the lacunas which were argued by him during hearing of the bail plea.
He further claimed that this prima-facie showed that the investigation was not concluded/closed by the IO against Khan at the time of filing charge sheet.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, appearing for the state, argued that there was no provision in law under which such an application can be filed and the application was also not filed indicating any provision of law and, therefore, it was not maintainable.
He further argued that the right of the Investigating Agency to investigate the case can not be curtailed by filing such application and accused can not command the process of disposal of the proceedings and can not put the court to terms.
The public prosecutor has further argued that there was no bar in law against the Investigating Agency to further investigate the matter after filing of the charge sheet and file supplementary charge sheets.
Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
