Delhi District Court
The State vs Annu And Others on 4 February, 2025
IN THE COURT OF DR. NEHA KHERIA, JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE,
FIRST CLASS-02, NORTH DISTRICT, ROHINI COURTS, DELHI
DLNT02-001435-2011
Cr. Case 5286867/2016
State Vs. Annu and Ors.
FIR No. 386/2010
PS: SP Badli
U/S : 3/4/5/8 ITP Act
JUDGMENT
ID number of the case : DLNT02-001435-2011
Date of commission of offence : 09.12.2010
Date of filing of the chargesheet : 25.01.2011
Name of the complainant : Inspector Sanjeev Kumar
Name of accused and address : 1.Annu W/o Sh. Deepak Kumar R/o
G7/396, Sector 16, Rohini, Delhi.
2.Babli W/o Sh. Kuldeep Kumar
R/o H. No. 15, Gali No. 2, Village
Mukandpur, Delhi.
3. Rajni W/o Sh. Shyam Sunder R/o
A-12/1, Village Tukmir Pur Delhi.
and
4. Sapna W/o Vinod R/o H. No. 15,
Gali No. 2, Kudewali gali, Shahbad
Daulat Pur, Outer District, Delhi
(since PO).
Offence complained of : U/s 3/4/5/8 Immoral Trafficking
Prevention Act
Offece charged with : Qua accused Annu U/s 3/4/5/8 Immoral
FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 1/27
Trafficking Act
and qua accused Babli and Rani u/s 8
Immoral Trafficking Act.
Plea of the accused : Pleaded not guilty
Final order : Acquittal.
Date of judgment : 04.02.2025.
BRIEF STATEMENT OF FACTS FOR THE DECISION:-
1. Briefly stated, case of the prosecution is that a secret information was received from the informer that the person who reside in G 7/396, Sector-16, Ground floor, Rohini, Delhi carries business of immoral trafficking and if raid is conducted, they can be caught. On this information, Inspector Sanjeev registered DD No. 28A and informed about the same to ACP SP Badli. After receiving direction for investigation, Inspector Sanjeev along with SI Jagbir, Ct. Ash Karan, Ct. Om Singh in civil uniform and W/Ct. Usha and W/HC Saroj Lakra went with informer in government vehicle, which was drove by Ct. Virender. They reached at G-7 Block, Sector 16 and parked the government vehicle. They left the government vehicle with the driver. Inspector Sandeep Kumar asked passersby to join the raid however, they left without disclosing their name. Inspector prepared the raiding party. Personal search of Ct. Ash Karan was conducted who was in civil dress and two currency notes of 500/- denomination bearing No. JME443626 and 3KB595649 were given to Ct. Ash FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 2/27 Karan after Inspector signed on the said currency notes. Ct. Ash Karan was made a decoy customer and he was instructed to go inside the house No. G7/396, Ground Floor, Sector -16, Rohini and to make a deal with the woman who was involved in sex racked. Ct. Om Singh was made a shadow witness and he was instructed to hear the conversation of decoy customer and the women. Ct. Om Singh was also instructed by the Inspector that when the deal is completed between the decoy customer and the women, he shall make a signal after putting hand on his head. At around 08:50 pm, Ct. Ash Karan and Ct. Om Singh went inside the house. Inspector Sanjeev, SI Jagbir and W/Ct. Usha and W/HC Saroj Lakra were standing at some distance from the house and waiting for the signal. After 15 minutes, Ct. Om Singh came out of the house and made the signal on which Inspector Sanjeev went to the house and apprehended all the accused persons. Decoy customer Ct. Ash Karan told the Inspector that he made deal with accused Annu and that woman charges Rs.500/- for one hour for providing female. Ct. Ash Karan further told Inspector Sanjeev that he gave two currency notes in the denomination of Rs.500/- each to Annu and told her that he will enjoy with Babli. After which HC Saroj Lakra conducted personal search of Annu from the back pocket of the jeans two currency notes of denomination of Rs.500/- were recovered which contains signature of Inspector. The said currency notes were seized by the IO and sealed with seal of SK. Hence, the present case.
FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 3/27
2. Upon completion of investigation charge sheet u/s 173 Cr.P.C. was filed and the accused persons were consequently summoned. Charge u/s 3/4/5 of ITP Act was framed against the accused Annu and charge u/s 8 of ITP Act against accused Babli and Rajni vide order dated 23.07.2016 of the Ld. Predecessor of this Court to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
3. In order to substantiate the allegations, prosecution examined 08 witnesses. In brief, prosecution witnesses deposed as follows:
PW1 HC Om Singh deposed that on 09.12.2010, he was posted at PS KNK Marg. On that day, he joined the investigation along with IO. On that day, he along with Inspector Sanjeev Kumar, SI Jagbir Singh, Ct. Ashkaran, WHC Saroj Lakda and WCt. Usha, proceeded towards G7/396, Ground Floor, Sector 16, Rohini in Official Gypsy along with secret informer. They reached at the spot around 8:40 p.m. The vehicle was parked near the park and the driver was left with the vehicle. IO asked public persons to join the raiding party but none had agreed and left the spot without disclosing their names and address. Without wasting any time IO formed a raiding party including him as well as the others. Ct. Ashkaran was made as a decoy customer and IO gave him two currency notes of Rs. 500/- after signing on the currency notes and he was instructed to go inside the house i.e. G7/396, Sector 16 and also FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 4/27 instructed him to make a deal with the woman who was involved in sex racket. IO inspector Sanjeev made him as a shadow witness and he was instructed to hear the conversation of decoy customer and the woman. He was also instructed by the IO that when the deal would be complete between the decoy customer and the woman, he would make a signal after putting his hand on his head. After hearing the conversation made between Ct. Askharan and the woman and when he realised that the deal is complete he came out from the house and gave a signal after putting his hand on his head. IO Inspector Sanjeev as well as the other staff immediately came and over powered the lady as well as the other three women in the house who were present in the house. The lady who got a deal named as Annu W/o Deepak who was correctly identified by PW1 was got searched by WHC Saroj Lakra. Two currency notes of Rs. 500/- were got recovered from the pocket of Annu. Both the currency notes were kept by the IO in an envelope and duly sealed with the seal of SK. Thereafter, IO prepared rukka and sent Ct. Askharan to police station for getting the case registered. IO inspected the spot and prepared site plan. After getting the case registered Ct. Askharan came at the spot and handed over the original rukka and copy of FIR to the IO. All the four women who were involved in the sex racket namely Annu, Babli, Rajni and Sapna were arrested by the IO. Accused Annu, Babli and Rajni were FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 5/27 correctly identified by the PW1. Accused Sapna is PO, IO recorded his statement. PW1 was cross-examined by Ld. Counsel for accused persons. PW2 Ct. HC Ashkaran deposed that on 09.12.2010 he was posted at KN Katju Marg. On that day at around 8:10 p.m. one secret informer came to the PS and informed that at G-7, 396, Sector 16, Rohini premises of prostitution racket is going on. Thereafter on the instruction of SHO DD no. 28A was recorded and the said information was communicated to the then ACP and after taking the permission, the SHO prepared a raiding party consisting of SI Jagbir, Ct. Om Singh, W Ct. Saroj Lakhda, Lady Ct. Usha and driver Virender including him went to the spot in government vehicle whose registration number he does not remember. They were wearing civil clothes. They reached near the park in front of G-7, 396, Sector 16, Rohini and took their position. Thereafter inspector Sanjeev Kumar requested 4-5 passersby to join the raiding party however, no one joined the party and went away without disclosing their names and addresses. Thereafter without wasting any time the SHO Inspector Sanjeev Kumar prepared raiding party and deputed him as a decoy customer and Ct. Om Singh was deputed as shadow witness. Thereafter, his personal search was conducted which is Ex.PWs2/A bearing his signature at point A. Thereafter he was handed over two notes in denomination of Rs.500/- vide handing over memo Ex.PW2/B which FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 6/27 bears his signature at point A. thereafter at around 08:50, he alongwith Ct. Om Singh went at the grou8nd floor of aforesaid premises. Upon there they initially met with one lady namely Annu. Annu told him that she will charge Rs.500/- to have sex with the girl and she will also provide the room. Thereafter, she produced three girls namely Sapna, Rajni and Babli. Thereafter, he selected Rajni and Babli for sexual intercourse and she told him that she will provide him enjoyment for one hour and she also told him that she will give such enjoyment that he will value for Rs.500/- and will visit again. He handed over two currency notes of Rs.500/- to Annu. Ct. Om Singh gave a signal to the raiding party. Thereafter, the raiding party entered the above said flat. The lady Ct. apprehended all the four ladies. W/Ct. Saroj Lakra formally searched accused Annu and two abovesaid currency notes were recovered from her possession. The serial number of currency notes JME 443626 and 3KD595649. Same were sealed by the IO with the seal of SK and thereafter same were seized. IO prepared a rukka and handed over the same to him for registration of FIR. Thereafter, he returned to the spot and handed over original rukka and copy of FIR to IO. IO arrested accused persons. Accused persons were personally searched by lady constables. Thereafter they returned to the PS along with accused persons. IO recorded his statement. Accused Annu, Babli and Rajni were FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 7/27 correctly identified by the PW2. Accused Sapna is PO. PW2 identified the case property i.e. currency notes. PW2 was cross-examined by Ld. Counsel for accused persons.
PW3 W/Ct. Usha deposed that on 10.12.2010, she was posted as Lady Constable at PS KNK Marg. On that day, she joined the investigation of this case along with IO Inspector Sanjeev Kumar and she along with IO, SI Jagbir Singh, Ct. Ashkaran, WHC Saroj Lakda and Ct. Om Singh, proceeded towards Ground Floor, Sector 16, Rohini in Official Gypsy along with secret informer. They reached at near the spot around 8:50 p.m. The vehicle was parked near the park and the driver was left with the vehicle. Secret informer also remained there. IO asked public persons from the neigbourhood to join the raiding party but none had agreed and left the spot without disclosing their names and address. Without wasting any time IO formed a raiding party including her as well as the others. Ct. Ashkaran was in civil uniform and he was made as a decoy customer and IO gave him two currency notes of Rs. 500/- after signing on the currency notes and he was instructed to go inside the house of Sector 16, Rohini of which secret information was received and also instructed him to make a deal with the woman who was involved in sex racket. IO inspector Sanjeev made Ct. Om Singh as a shadow witness and he was instructed to hear the conversation of decoy customer and the FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 8/27 woman. Ct. Om Singh was also instructed by the IO that when the deal would be complete between the decoy customer and the woman, he has to make a signal after putting his hand on his head. Ct. Om Singh was also in civil dress. Thereafter both Ct. Ashkaran and Om Singh went inside the said house. After some time Ct. Om Singh came out and gave the signal by putting hand on his head. After seeing the signal, all the members of raiding party went inside the said house and the accused lady Annu was apprehended and searched by W/HC Saroj Lakda. During the search of that lady/accused Annu, both those currency notes of denomination of Rs. 500/- were recovered from her possession which were handed over by the IO to decoy customer Ct. Ashkaran after signing them. The lady who got the deal named as Annu W/o Deepak was correctly identified by the PW3. Including accused Annu there were three other ladies and their names revealed as accused Babli, Rajni and Sapna. Accused Babli, Rajni and Sapna were also apprehended by them at the spot. Accused Babli and Rajni were correctly identified by the PW3. Both the currency notes were taken into possession by the IO after putting them in an envelope and sealed the same with the seal of SK. Thereafter, IO prepared rukka and handed over the same to Ct. Askharan for getting the case registered. After getting the case registered Ct. Askharan came at the spot and handed over the original rukka and copy of FIR to the IO. All the four FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 9/27 women who were involved in the sex racket namely Sapna, Rajni, Babli and Annu were arrested by the IO vide arrest memos Ex. PW3/A to Ex.PW 3/D which bears her signatures at point A respectively. All the four accused were also personally searched by her and W/HC Saroj vide memos Ex. PW 3/E to Ex. PW 3/H each of which also bears her signatures at point A respectively. IO recorded her statement. Accused Sapna has already been declared PO in this case. PW3 identified the case property i.e. two currency notes of denomination of Rs. 500/-. It was admitted by PW3 that complete address of the spot where they were arrested is G-7/396, Sector 16, Rohini. PW3 was cross-examined by Ld. counsel for accused.
PW4 W/ASI Saroj Lakra deposed that on 10.12.2010, she was posted as W/HC at PS KNK Marg. On that day, she joined the investigation of this case along with IO Inspector Sanjeev Kumar and she along with IO, SI Jagbir Singh, Ct. Ashkaran, W/Ct. Usha and Ct. Om Singh, proceeded towards G7/396, Ground Floor, Sector 16, Rohini in Official Gypsy along with secret informer. They reached at near the spot around 8:50 p.m. The vehicle was parked near the park and the driver was left with the vehicle. Secret informer also remained there. IO asked public persons from the neigbourhood to join the raiding party but none had agreed and left the spot without disclosing their names and address. FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 10/27 Without wasting any time IO formed a raiding party including herself as well as the others. Ct. Ashkaran was in civil uniform and he was made as a decoy customer and IO gave him two currency notes of Rs. 500/- after signing on the currency notes and he was instructed to go inside the house of Sector 16, Rohini of which secret information was received and also instructed him to make a deal with the woman who was involved in sex racket. IO inspector Sanjeev made Ct. Om Singh as a shadow witness and he was instructed to hear the conversation of decoy customer and the woman. Ct. Om Singh was also instructed by the IO that when the deal would be complete between the decoy customer and the woman, he have to make a signal after putting his hand on his head. Ct. Om Singh was also in civil dress. Thereafter both Ct. Ashkaran and Om Singh went inside the said house. After some time Ct. Om Singh came out and gave the signal by putting hand on his head. After seeing the signal, all the members of raiding party went inside the said house and the accused lady Annu was apprehended and searched by her. During the search of that lady/accused Annu, both those currency notes of denomination of Rs. 500/- were recovered from her possession which were handed over by the IO to decoy customer Ct. Ashkaran after signing them. The lady who got the deal named as Annu W/o Deepak was correctly identified by the PW4. Including accused Annu there were three other ladies and their FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 11/27 names revealed as accused Babli, Rajni and Sapna. Accused Babli, Rajni and Sapna were also apprehended by them at the spot. Accused Babli and Rajni were correctly identified by the PW4. Both the currency notes were taken into possession by the IO after putting them in an envelope and sealed the same with the seal of SK vide seizure memo PW 4/A. Thereafter, IO prepared rukka and handed over the same to Ct. Askharan for getting the case registered. After getting the case registered Ct. Askharan came at the spot and handed over the original rukka and copy of FIR to the IO. All the four women who were involved in the sex racket namely Sapna, Rajni, Babli and Annu were arrested by the IO vide arrest memos Ex. PW3/A to Ex.PW 3/D which bears her signatures at point B respectively. All the four accused were also personally searched by her and W/HC Saroj vide memos Ex. PW 3/E to Ex. PW 3/H each of which also bears her signature at point B. respectively. IO recorded her statement. Accused Sapna is PO. She identified the case property i.e. two currency notes. PW4 was cross-examined by Ld. counsel for accused persons.
PW5 retired HC Surender deposed that on 09.12.2010, he was posted as PS KNK Marg as duty officer from 04:00 pm to 12:00 mid night. At about 11:15 pm, he received rukka through Ct. Askaran sent by Inspector Sanjeev Kumar, on the basis of which he registered the present FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 12/27 case FIR bearing No. 386/10 which is Ex.PW5/A (OSR). He put his endorsement on the rukka which is Ex.pW5/B, both bearing his signature at point A. After registration of FIR, he handed over the original rukka and copy of FIR to Ct. Askaran for handing over the same to the IO. PW5 was not cross-examined by Ld. counsel for accused despite opportunity was given.
PW6 SI Jagbir Singh deposed that on 09.12.10, he was posted at PS KNK Marg as SI. On that day he along with IO Inspector Sanjeev Kumar the then SHO, Ct. Askaran, Ct. Om Singh, WHC Saroj Lakra and W Ct. Usha reached at G-7, Sector 16, Rohini to conduct a raid in a brothel house. The SHO instructed the driver to stop the vehicle at a distance from the spot. The SHO asked 3-4 passers by to join the raiding party but none agreed and left the spot after giving genuine excuses. Thereafter IO/SHO prepared a raiding party including him and all the above named persons. Ct. Askaran and Ct. Om Singh was in civil uniform. IO took a personal search of Ct. Askaran vide memo Ex.PW 2/A bearing his signature at point B and he was left with nothing. Thereafter, IO handed over to Ct. Askaran two currency notes of 500 vide memo Ex. PW 2/B bearing his signature at point B. He was appointed as a decoy customer and Ct. Om Singh as shadow witness. It was instructed by IO to both of them that in case of deal Ct. Om Singh should give a signal to FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 13/27 raiding party by rubbing his hand on his head. Thereafter Ct. Askaran and Om Singh went inside the spot i.e. G-7/396, Sector 16, Rohini. After 15 minutes Ct. Om Singh gave signal to the raiding party. On getting signal, he along with SHO/IO, W HC Saroj Lakra and W Ct. Saroj reached at the spot where 4 ladies were present and their names were later on disclosed as Sapna, Rajni, Bubly and Annu. Ct. Askaran produced before SHO accused Annu and informed that his deal was cracked with Annu and he has already given two currency notes to her. WHC Saroj Lakra conducted personal search of accused Annu and two currency notes given by SHO to Ct. Askaran were recovered from the back pocket of her wearing pant. SHO seized both the currency notes while sealing the same with the seal of SK vide memo Ex. PW 4/A bearing his signature at point B. Thereafter IO prepared rukka and handed over the same to Askaran for registration of FIR. After some time Ct. Askaran came back to spot after registration of FIR. IO prepared site plan and thereafter arrested all the four ladies vide memo Ex. PW 3/A, Ex. PW 3/B, Ex. PW3/C and Ex.PW 3/D bearing his signatures at point C respectively and also got conducted their personal search. IO recorded his statement and statement of other witnesses at the spot. Thereafter they all along with 4 accused persons came back to PS. The accused ladies were sent in lockup. Three of them are present in the court today but he does not remember their names FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 14/27 individually. He cannot identify the currency note given by SHO to decoy customer, at this point of time he does not remember their serial numbers. PW6 admitted IO/SHO put his signatures on the currency notes before giving the same to decoy customer and he identified the signatures on them. PW6 was cross-examined by Ld. counsel for accused persons. PW7 Ravinder deposed that he has been residing at the above said address along with my family and working privately. He has one ground floor at G-7/396, Sector 16, Rohini, Delhi, which he gave on rent to one lady Anjana @Annu for a monthly rent of Rs. 2,500/-, however, in the year 2008, when he asked her to vacate the same, then she started playing dilatory tactics and illegally possess his house. Thereafter, he filed the suit for possession of the said premises in Rohini Court. These ladies do illegal thing in the said property. IO came to enquire about the same and he told the said fact to the police. Accused Anjana @ Annu was correctly identified by the PW7. Witness also placed on record copy of the application under order 23 Rule 3, whereby he entered into compromise with Smt. Anjana Kumari. Same is taken on record and now marked as Mark A. PW7 was cross-examined by Ld. counsel for accused persons. PW8 ACP Sanjeev Kumar deposed that on 09.12.2010, he was posted at PS KNK Marg as SHO. On that day, on receipt of secret information at about 8.10 p.m that prostitution racket is going on at FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 15/27 G-7/396, Sector 16, Rohini, Delhi. Thereafter, he recorded such information vide DD No. 28 A. Same is Ex. PWB/A, bearing his signature at point A. The said information was communicated to ACP concerned after taking the necessary permission. He prepared the raiding party consisting of ASI Jasbir, Ct. Om Singh, W/Cr Saroj Lakra, L/Ct. Usha, driver Virender, Ct. Ashkaran along with him. Ct. Om Singh and Ct. Ashkaran were in civil dress and thereafter, they proceeded to the spot in government vehicle. When they reached near the park in front of G-7/396, Sector 16, Rohini and took their position and thereafter, he requested 4-5 passersby to join the investigation but none had agreed and left the spot without disclosing their names and addresses. Thereafter, he without wasting any further time, Ct. Ashkaran was deputed as decoy customer and Ct. Om Singh was deputed as shadow witness. Thereafter, the personal search of Ct. Ashkaran was taken vide memo Ex. PW2/A, bearing his signature at point C. Thereafter, Ct. Ashkaran was handed over two notes in the denomination of Rs. 500/- bearing he signatures vide handing over memo Ex PW2/B, bearing his signature at point C. Thereafter,at about 8.40 p.m, Ct. Ashkaran along with Ct. Om Singh went at the ground floor of the spot/aforesaid premises. Upon reaching there, they initially met with one lady namely Annu who told that she will charge Rs. 500/- to have sexual intercourse with a girl and will also FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 16/27 provide the room. Thereafter, accused Annu produced three girls namely Sapna, Rajni and Babli and both the constables selected Babli and Rajni for the intercourse, thereafter, accused Annu told them these girls will provide the enjoyment for one Hair and she further told that the enjoyment will be of such level that they will feel the value of Rs. 500/- and will visit again. Thereafter Ct. Ashkaran handed over two currency notes of Rs. 500/- denomination to accused Annu. Thereafter, Ct. Om Singh gave signal towards them and he along with other members of raiding party went inside abovesaid premises. Lady constables apprehended all the four ladies. W/Ct. Saroj Lakra formally searched accused Annu and above two currency notes of Rs 500/-were recovered from her possession. The serial number of the same are mentioned in the record. Same were sealed by him with the seal of S.K and seized the same and Ex. PW4/A, bearing his signature at point C. Thereafter, he prepared the rukka i.e. Ex. PW8/A. bearing his signature at point A and handed over the same to Ct. Ashkaran for registration of FIR, who went to PS, got the FIR registered and returned to the spot along with the copy of FIR and original rukka and handed over the same to him for further investigation. Thereafter, he prepared the site plan which is Ex. PW8/C, bearing his signature at point A. Thereafter, he arrested and personally searched the accused persons namely Annu @Anjana, Sapna, Babli and FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 17/27 Rajni through W/Ct Saroj Lakra vide memos Ex. PW3/A to Ex. PW3/H, all bearing his signatures at point X. Thereafter, accused persons were sent to police lock after medical examination and produced before the concerned court on 10.12.2010. During investigation, he recorded the statement of relevant police witnesses. Accused Anjana @ Annu, Babli and Rajni were correctly identified by the PW8. Thereafter, he completed the codal formalities and also placed notification issued under section 13 of ITP Act on record and filed the charge sheet before the court concerned. During investigation, he also examined registered owner of the premises/spot namely Ravinder and recorded his statement in this regard. PW8 identified the case property. PW8 was cross-examined by Ld. counsel for accused persons.
4. Prosecution evidence was closed vide order dated 07.10.2023. Statement of accused was recorded u/s 313 r/w 281 Cr.P.C. on 19.04.2024, wherein all the incriminating evidence was put to the accused persons, to which they refused the allegations and stated that they have been falsely implicated in this case and recovery of case property has been falsely implanted upon them. Further, the accused persons did not wish to lead defence evidence.
5. Final Arguments heard. Case file perused.
6. It is argued by Ld. APP for the state that from the ocular and FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 18/27 documentary evidence on record, prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Annu was managing a brothel and she wholly or in part lived on the earning of the prostitution of the accused persons namely Babli, Rajni and Sapna (since absconder) and she procured the accused persons with their consent for the purpose of prostitution and other accused persons namely Babli and Rajni along with co-accused Sapna (since deceased) were solicited the decoy and that accused persons may be convicted of the offence charged.
7. Per contra, it is argued by the Ld. Counsel for the accused that accused persons are completely innocent and recovery of currency notes have been falsely planted upon them. It is further submitted by Ld. Counsel that non joinder of public witness despite availability casts shadow of doubt on prosecution story. It is further argued by Ld. Counsel for the accused persons that tampering with the contents of the sealed parcel cannot be ruled out as seal was not handed to the independent witness. That owner of the property strangely did not make any objection, there is no complaint pertaining to the same. At the end, it is submitted that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and therefore, the accused persons are liable to be acquitted of the alleged offence.
8. I have heard the rival submissions and have also carefully gone through the entire material available on record and evidence led on behalf of the prosecution.
FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 19/27
9. It is cardinal principle of criminal jurisprudence that an accused is presumed to be innocent and, therefore, the burden lies on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The prosecution is under a legal obligation to prove each and every ingredient of the offence beyond any doubt, unless otherwise so provided by any statute. This general burden never shifts and it always rests on the prosecution.
10. After going through the evidence on record, Court is of the considered opinion that allegations against the accused persons are not proved beyond reasonable doubt. There is no cogent evidence to demonstrate that the accused persons have committed the offfence for which they faced the trial. The prosecution has failed to prove the allegations on account of the following reasons:
It is a well settled proposition that non-joining of public witness shrouds doubt over the fairness of the investigation by police. Section 100(4) of the Cr.PC also casts a statutory duty on an official conducting search to join two respectable persons of the society. Same has not been done in the present case. This casts a doubt on the fairness of the investigation.
From the overall testimony of the witnesses, it appears that no sincere efforts, have been made to join the public persons in the investigation. The witnesses examined by the prosecution are police witness. Not even a FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 20/27 single public witness was examined by the prosecution nor joined in the investigation and no plausible reason could be put forward by the prosecution witnesses that for what reason they were unable to gather support from public or independent witnesses to establish the guilt of the accused. Reference can be taken from the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of Pawan Kumar v. The Delhi Administration, 1989 Cri.L.J. 127.
The failure on the part of the police personnel could only suggest that they were not interested in joining the public persons in the police proceedings. Failure on the part of the police officials to make sincere effort to join public witnesses for the proceedings when they may be available creates reasonable doubt in the prosecution story. Reference can be taken from the decision of Anoop Joshi V. State 1992 (2) C.C. Cases 314 (HC), Hon'ble High Court of Delhi has observed as under;
"It is repeatedly laid down by this Court that in such cases it should be shown by the police that sincere efforts have been made to join independent witnesses. In the present case, it is evident that no such sincereefforts have been made, particularly when we find that shops were open and one or two shop keepers could have been persuaded to join the raiding party to witness the recovery being made from the appellant. In case any of the shopkeepers had declined to join the raiding party, the FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 21/27 police could have later on taken legal action against such shopkeepers because they could not have escaped the rigours of law while declining to perform their legal duty to assist the police in investigation as a citizen, which is an offence under the IPC."
In the instant case, the recovery of currency note was effected from the accused Annu at the house i.e. G7/396, Ground Floor, Sector-16, Rohini. Hence, it could not be said that not even a single neighbour was available at their house when the recovery was effected. However, surprisingly, the prosecution witnesses did not explain the reason as to why public witnesses were not asked to join raid, recovery and investigation. They only stated that the public persons refused to join the investigation. This reason given by the PWs is neither sufficient nor plausible. Neither the details of those public persons were brought on record nor any legal action was taken against those persons under relevant sections of law who had declined to assist the police in investigation. If the public persons were really present at the spot, then the police officials should have made endeavored to get them join the investigation. They should have issued notice to public persons and to neighbours asking them to join the investigation. On their refusal, necessary action as per law could have been taken against them. Therefore, it is clear that sincere efforts were not made to join FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 22/27 independent witnesses despite their availability which causes a serious dent in the story of the prosecution and all these facts makes the alleged recovery very doubtful.
Further, the prosecution did not even bring on record necessary DD entries to prove departure/arrival of the police officials from/at the police station. At this stage, reference can be taken from the provision enshrined in 22 rule 49 of the Punjab Police Rules, which is reproduced as under;
"Chapter 22 rule 49 Matters to be entered in Register no. II. The following matters shall amongst others, be entered:-(c) The hour of arrival and departure on duty at or from a police station of all enrolled police officers of whatever rank, whether posted at the police station or elsewhere, with a statement of the nature of their duty. This entry shall be made immediately on arrival or prior to the departure of the officer concerned and shall be attested by the latter personally by signature or seal. Note:- The term Police Station will include all places such as Police Lines and Police Posts where Register No. II is maintained."
Perusal of the above rule clearly suggests that the police officials are mandated to record their time of arrival and departure on duty at or from the police station. In the instant case, this provision has not been complied by the concerned police witnesses. The relevant entries regarding the arrival and departure of the police officials have not been FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 23/27 proved on record. It has been held in Rattan Lal V. State 1987 (2) Crimes 29 the Hon'ble Delhi High Court held that;
"if the investigating agency deliberately ignores to comply with the provisions of the Act the Courts will have to approach their action with reservations. The matter has to be viewed with suspicion if the provisions of law are not strictly complied with and the least that can be said is that it is so done with an oblique motive. This failure to bring on record, the DD entries creates a reasonable doubt in the prosecution version and attributes oblique motive on the part of the prosecution."
Furthermore, in present case, the seal was neither handed over to an independent witness. No explanation has come on record as to why seal handing over memo was not made or seal was not handed over to an independent witness. In these circumstances, the possibility of tampering of case property cannot be ruled out. Reliance is placed on Ramji Singh V. State of Haryana 2007 (3) R.C.R. (Criminal) 452, the Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court held that:
"7. The very purpose of giving seal to an independent person is to avoid tampering of the case property. It is well settled that till the case property is not dispatched to the forensic science laboratory, the seal should not be available to the prosecuting agency and in the absence of such a safeguard the possibility of seal, contraband and the samples being FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 24/27 tampered with cannot be ruled out".
Therefore, in view of the above, this creates further doubts in the in the mind of the Court as to whether the case property i.e. currency notes allegedly recovered from the accused Annu has not been tampered with. Perusal of record shows that prosecution witnesses have deposed that FIR was registered after preparation of seizure memo, accordingly, FIR number could not have surfaced on that seizure memo, however, the seizure memo bears the FIR number. This gives rise to two inferences that either the FIR was recorded prior to the alleged recovery of the case property or number of the said FIR was inserted in the document after its registration. In both the situations, it seriously reflects upon the veracity of the prosecution version and creates a good deal of doubt about the recovery of the case property in the manner alleged. That being so, benefit arising out of such a situation must necessarily go to the accused. Reference be made to the judgment of Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of Giri Raj v. State, 83 (2000) DLT 201.
It is noteworthy that during cross-examination of PW7, owner of the house has stated that he did not give any written complaint to the police regarding illegal possession or immoral trafficking by the accused persons. Prosecution has not furnished any justification that why any owner would remain silent when on his property such immoral activities FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 25/27 were going on and why no complaint had been made pertaining to the same. Hence, a doobt is created in the mind of the Court. It is further pertinent to mention that it is submitted by prosecution witnesses that search was made by PW HC Saroj Lakra, however no personal search of PW HC Saroj Lakra was made. No independent witness was present at the time when the personal search was conducted by PW HC Saroj Lakra. Hence the possibility of Saroj Lakra putting the two currency notes in denomination of Rs.500/- signed by IO/Inspector Sanjeev cannot be ruled out.
It is significant to mention that as per the story of the prosecution, the said raid was conducted as per the information of the secret informer. A doubt is created in the mind of the Court that if such activities were going on in the said house then why the neighbours of the said locality made no complaint regarding such business of immoral trafficking being conducted by the accused persons and why they were not examined as prosecution witnesses. Hence, the story of the prosecution does not inspire confidence of the Court.
It is true that evidence is to be weighed and not counted but in this case whatever evidence has been produced by the prosecution is not sufficient to fortify the edifice of the prosecution's case and the prosecution fails to prove all the links. In case where the prosecution has FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 26/27 failed to prove all the links, the benefit of doubt has to be given to the accused. As such the accused deserves acquittal in the present case.
11. Therefore, in view of the above discussions and findings, this Court is of the opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the accused persons in the present case beyond reasonable doubt.
12. Hence, in the light of foregoing discussions, the offence u/s 3/4/5/8 of ITP Act against accused Annu and a charge u/s 8 ITP Act could not be proved against accused Babli and Rajni beyond reasonable doubt and accused persons are given benefit of doubt and accused Annu is acquitted of charges u/s 3/4/5/8 ITP Act and accused Babli and Rajni are acquitted of charges u/s 8 of ITP Act.
NEHA Digitally signed by
Announced in the open court
NEHA KHERIA
KHERIA Date: 2025.02.04
17:40:35 +0530
Dictated directly into the computer (Dr. Neha Kheria)
and announced in the open Court, JMFC-02/North/Rohini
On 04th February, 2025. Delhi/04.02.2025
This judgment consists of 27 pages and all bear my signature. Digitally signed
NEHA by NEHA KHERIA KHERIA 17:40:29 Date: 2025.02.04 +0530 (Dr. Neha Kheria) JMFC-02/North/Rohini Delhi/04.02.2025 FIR No. 386/2010 PS KNK Marg State Vs. Annu and ors. Page No. 27/27