Delhi High Court - Orders
Mohd Azharuddin & Anr vs Delhi Police Through Commissioner Of ... on 18 August, 2021
Author: Mukta Gupta
Bench: Mukta Gupta
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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(CRL) 120/2021
MOHD AZHARUDDIN & ANR. . ..... Petitioner
Through: Ms. Vidisha, Advocate.
versus
DELHI POLICE THROUGH COMMISSIONER OF DELHI
POLICE & ORS. .... Respondent
Through: Mr. Rajesh Mahajan, ASC for the
State.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MUKTA GUPTA
ORDER
% 18.08.2021 The hearing has been conducted through Video Conferencing.
1. By this petition, the petitioner has sought a writ of mandamus directing the Govt. of NCT of Delhi to conduct departmental inquiry on the eight unknown police officers of PS New Friends Colony for allegedly inflicting bodily injury, psychological injury, and the continuous harassment to the petitioner and his family members, as also issue directions to return the belongings of the petitioner which are lying at the Police Station New Friends Colony.
2. When the petition came up before this Court, this Court while issuing notice directed the Commissioner of Police to get conducted a detailed enquiry into the facts alleged in the petition by a senior police officer, which enquiry will also indicate as to under which provisions the belongings of the petitioner No. 1, if any, have been retained by the police officials and submit Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 1 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 a report to this Court.
3. Pursuant to the directions of this Court a status report has been filed under the signatures of the DCP South-East District on behalf of the Commissioner of Police. The findings and the conclusion that have emerged on the enquiry conducted by the police are mentioned in Paras 4,5 and 6 of the status report as under:-
"4. The findings of enquiry revealed as under:
i. On 20-09-2020, at about 7 pm, on a secret information, the Petitioner No. 1 was brought to Police Station New Friends Colony as a suspect involved in robbery and snatching cases including a robbery case bearing FIR No.174/2020 dated 20- 07-2020, u/s 392/34PS New Friends Colony by SI Vishnu Dutt and Ct. Ravi. He was questioned and interrogated in order to verify his involvement in crime. However, he ran away from the police station premises after jumping over the back gate at about 10 pm on 20-09-2020. A GD entry vide Serial Number-74 dated 20-09-2020 was lodged in this regard at Police Station New Friends Colony. This aspect is covered by the CCTV footage of the Police Station.
ii. Since petitioner was not arrested, as such, no personal search was conducted. No personal belongings were either seized or kept in the Police station as alleged in the petition.
iii. The petitioner was not questioned regarding NRC/CAA as the investigation of NRC/CAA cases have not been conducted by the South-East District but by other units of Delhi Police like Crime Branch.
iv. It was also revealed in the enquiry that the Petitioner No.1 was subsequently involved in a house dacoity case registered at Police Station Neb Sarai vide FIR No. 524/20 dated 09-12-2020, u/s 395/412/482/201/120-B IPC and 25/27/54 Arms Act. The facts are that on 09-12-2020, dacoity was committed inside the residence of complainant Smt. Pooja Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 2 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 Garg in broad day light. Rs. 4.5 Lakhs, Jewellery and other precious items were looted on gun point. The investigation revealed that this dacoity was committed by eight persons. Six persons have already been arrested in the case and the case property i.e looted amount and jewellery have been recovered and duly identified by the complainant Smt. Pooja Garg during Judicial TIP. It would be pertinent to mention here that the TIP of the accused persons have also been conducted as a part of investigation and the complainant herself identified the accused persons in court as per the established procedure. On sustained interrogation of the arrested accused persons, it was revealed that the Petitioner Md. Azharuddin was the master mind of the crime and he was also allegedly present at the time of commission of offence. It was the Petitioner who arranged stolen vehicles and arms for commission of dacoity. In addition to that the motorcycle as well as scooty, used in crime, having fake number plates, were recovered at the instance of accused Arman Malik and Md. Danish respectively. These recovered vehicles were found stolen vide EMVT FIR No- 29825/2020 Dated 17-11-2020 and EMVT FIR No- 21405/2020 dated 01- 09-2020 of Police Station Jamia Nagar. The weapon of offence i.e two country made pistols were also recovered from accused Annan Malik & Md. Danish.
During interrogation, accused Arman Malik disclosed one mobile number 9953047896 which he claimed belong to the Petitioner Md. Azharuddin @Ajhan@Azhar@Vakeel with whom Arman Malik was in constant touch from his (accused Arman Malik) mobile number 8384056149. Moreover, during investigation CCTV footages were recovered in which the Petitioner Azharuddin is clearly seen in the company of other accused persons. As per the disclosure of the arrested accused persons, the Petitioner Md. Azharuddin had a major role in planning and executing this daring heinous crime. The Petitioner Md. Azharuddin is still wanted in this case and proceedings u/s 82 Cr.P.C. are under way against him. v. The investigation in the said case revealed that Petitioner No.l was in constant touch with the arrested co-accused persons Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 3 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 namely Arman Malik and Anil, prior to dacoity case of Neb Sarai Police Station. The location of Petitioners No-1, Md. Azharuddin's mobile number 9953047896 was found at the spot at the time of dacoity in Neb Sarai. Further analysis of CDRs showed that Petitioner no. 1 was in regular touch with the co- accused in case FIR 524/2020 PS Neb Sarai.
vi. The recovery of remaining case property and source, of weapon used in the commission of the said dacoity, are yet to be effected/discovered' at his (Petitioner No-01) instance and his custodial interrogation is required in dacoity case.
vii. A proposal for declaration of reward in respect of the Petitioner No-1 in the said case is under process at PHQ level as the Petitioner/accused is deliberately absconding and evading arrest.
viii. No relative including father of fiancee of the Petitioner was detained at Police Station Neb Sarai as alleged. ix. The Petitioner has claimed himself to be a student of Jamia Milia lslmia University. The said fact is found incorrect upon verification from the University authorities. It further revealed that the present petition has been filed with incorrect address.
x. The allegations made in the petition and complaints could not be substantiated and were found to be false and fabricated and appear to have been made in order to pressurize the- police and to evade himself from the arrest in the dacoity case of PS Neb Sarai.
5. The analysis of call details of the petitioner Md. Azharuddin from 01.09.2020 onwards in terms of directions passed by the Hon'ble Court was also conducted and made part of the enquiry. The relevant part of the report in this regard reads as under:
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 4 of 8GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 "During the course of enquiry, three mobile numbers of the Petitioners were found, these are 8766275253, 9953047896 and 9990027071.The Call details & CAP of all the above three numbers have been obtained from the concerned mobile operators from 1 Sep 2020 to till date.
1. Analysis of mobile number 8766275253- This mobile number 8766275253. was found running in the IMEI number mentioned in the Petition. According to CAP of mobile number 8766275253 of Reliance Jio, Petitioner Md. Azharuddin s/o Mohd. Amir R/o R-236, Street Number-1, Batia House, Joga Bai Extn, Jamia Nagar, Okhia, New Delhi is registered user of this mobile Phone number. After analyzing the CDR of this number, it has been revealed that mobile phone number 8766275253 was operational till 13 October 2020 and with this number the petitioner was in contact with arrested accused Arman Malik [Mobile Number-8384056149). Numerous calls [64 calls] & SMS were made between the Petitioner & accused Arman Malik between 01 Sep 2020 to 13 Oct. 2020.
2. Analysis of mobile phone number 9953047896 which was disclosed by co-accused Arman Malik in dacoity case FIR No-
524/2020 PS Neb Sarai during interrogation. According to CAP of Md. Azharuddin's second mobile number-9953047896, one Sohan s/o Bhagwant Raj R/o H-5, Harkesh Nagar, Okhla Phase-II, New Delhi & permanent resident of Maharaj ganj, Uttar Pardesh is registered user of this mobile phone number of Vodafone-Idea Company. Further, after analyzing the CDR of mobile number 9953047896, it is revealed that the location of this mobile number was at the spot at the time of the dacoity in Neb Sarai case and two calls were found to be made with accused Anil Kumar [Mobile Number-8744045789] on dated 15-09-2020 & 19-09- 2020. One call was found to be made with accused Arman Malik (Mobile Number-8384056149] on dated 07-09- 2020. Six calls were found to be made with accused Danish (MobileNumber-9718456791] on 06-12-2020, 07-12- 2020 and 08-12-2020. The said mobile number 9953047896 was operational till 15-03-2021. Total six mobile handsets had been used with this mobile number. On verification it has been Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 5 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 revealed that above said registered mobile user namely Sohan s/o Bhagwant Raj did not reside at the given address. Statement of Land Lady Smt. Kiran w/o Sh. Om Prakash has been recorded in this regard.
3. Analysis of third Mobile Number-9990027071-This mobile number of the Petitioner Md. Azharuddin was mentioned in his complaint to NHRC. According to CAP of one Sunny Kumar s/o Ganesh Choudhary R/o Kaimashikoh, Patna City, Nagla, Patna Rural, Patna is the registered user of this mobile phone number of Reliance Jio Company. Further, after analyzing the CDR of mobile number 9990027071, one call was found to be made with arrested accused. Arman Malik (Mobile Number- 8384056149] on dated 14-10-2020 during the period of 01-09-2020 to till date. The said mobile number 9990027071 was operational till 19-03-2021. Three different mobile handsets had been used with this mobile number.
6. That upon completion of enquiry, the following conclusions emerged:
i. That on 20.09.2020, on the basis of a secret information regarding involvement of the Petitioner no.l Mohd. Azharuddin @ Ajan @ Azhar in auto-lifting (motor cycle), snatching and robbery cases of the area, the Petitioner no. 1 was brought to Police Station New Friends Colony from Jogabai area in public view by SI Vishnu Dutt and Constable Ravi of PS NFC for verification of facts including of case FIR No. 174/2020, dated 20-07-2020 u/s 392/34 IPC, Police Station New Friends Colony. The mechanic Firoz was examined during enquiry and he categorically stated that police officer had shown their ID cards and neither did they use any force nor showed any fire arm to the person. Initially, the Petitioner tried to mislead the Police officials and he did not reveal his address also. Meanwhile, SI Vishnu Dutt got busy in a meeting with ACP/NFC and the Petitioner no.l was kept in IO room of the Police Station under the watch of Ct. Banwari Lal. All of a sudden, at about 10 pm, the petitioner no.l succeeded in fleeing from the police station by jumping over the back gate of the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 6 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 Police Station. This incident was covered in the CCTV footage of the Police Station.
ii. The allegation that that any of his articles were seized by the police could not be substantiated. Infact, even the personal search of petitioner was not conducted and, therefore, no article belonging to him was taken by the Police officials, as alleged in the petition.
iii. That on 09.12.2020, a case FIR No.-524/2020 u/s 395/412/482/201/120B IPG & 25/27/54/59 Arms Act was registered by PS Neb Sarai, South District. After thorough investigation, the said dacoity case was worked out. It was revealed during the course of investigation that the petitioner no.l Mohd. Azharuddin was a key conspirator/mastermind of the case. Infact, as per the disclosure of co-accused persons in the case, petitioner no.l had an important role in carrying out the crime. In the aforesaid crime ArmanMalik, Mohd. Danish, Vijay @ Bahadur, Anil Kumar, Sandeep Kumar @ Fauji and Shiv Kumar have been arrested and charge-sheeted in the case. The Petitioner is also wanted and absconding in the above mentioned case. Therefore, proceedings u/s 82 CrPC are pending against the Petitioner. The call details of accused Anil Kumar and Arman Malik's mobile phones are available in the CDR of Petitioner's mobile phones. The location of Petitioner's/ accused's mobile number 9953047896 was at the spot at the time of dacoity in Neb Sarai.
iv. The enquiry concluded that the allegations made by the Petitioner Mohd. Azharuddin in the petition were found to be untrue. Further, Petitioner no.l stated that he is a student of BA Final in Jamia Milia University, which fact on verification was found to be not true. As per the report of Jamia Milia University, the Petitioner is not a student of BA Final Year of the University. The petitioner mentioned that he is residing at H.No-1006, Near Madina Masjid, Zakir Nagar, New Delhi, which was also not true. He is not residing at the given address since August, 2020. Moreover, the address of the Petitioner, as mentioned in his Aadhar Card, does not exist. V. The findings of Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 7 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39 enquiry established that the petitioner is an active member of a dacoits' gang. It appeared that the petitioner is trying to mislead the Hon'ble court on the basis of concocted story of beating and torturing etc. in connection with NRG and CAA case by police, which allegations were found to be completely false. This is being done only to avoid his arrest in the dacoity case of Police Station Neb Sarai."
4. Thus, according to the enquiry, the petitioner was called to join the investigation in respect of alleged involvement in auto lifting, snatching and robbery cases of the area. It is the case of the State that the allegations of seizure of the articles of the petitioner were not substantiated and that the petitioner is one of the key conspirators in case FIR No.524/2020, under Sections 395/412/482/201/120B IPC and Sections 25/27 of the Arms Act, registered at PS Neb Sarai.
5. In view of the rival contentions of the petitioner and the police, learned counsel for the petitioner seeks liberty to file a complaint before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate along with an application under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. for taking appropriate remedies for her grievances.
6. Consequently, the writ petition is permitted to be withdrawn with liberty to the petitioner to take remedies as available in law before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate.
7. Petition is disposed of.
8. Order be uploaded on the website of this Court.
MUKTA GUPTA, J.
AUGUST 18, 2021 vk Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:JUSTICE W.P.(CRL) 120/2021 MUKTAPage 8 of 8 GUPTA Signing Date:18.08.2021 19:56:39