Delhi District Court
State vs . Israr @ Abbas on 28 August, 2012
State Vs. Israr @ Abbas
IN THE COURT OF SH. SACHIN SANGWAN:
METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE CENTRAL-05, DELHI
STATE Vs. ISRAR @ ABBAS
FIR NO : 318/95
PS : Nabi Karim
JUDGMENT
a) Date of commission of offence : 05.10.1995 b) Offence complained of : U/s 25 Arms Act, 1959 c) Name of complainant : Sh. Badru Khan d) Name of accused, his parentage, : Israr @ Abbas, local & permanent residence S/o Sh. Nisar Ahmed, R/o H. No. 750, Gali No. 2, Chauhan Banger, Bramhpuri, Seelampur, Delhi. e) Plea of accused : Plead not guilty. f) Final order : Acquitted Date of institution of case : 21.10.1995 Judgment reserved for : 09.08.2012 Date of judgment : 28.08.2012
BRIEF FACTS OF CASE OF PROSECUTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. In brief the case of the prosecution is that on 05.10.1995 at about 09.10 p.m., HC Raj Kumar along with Ct. Badru Khan and Ct. Manoj Kumar were on patrolling duty. When they reached near the Multani Dhanda, DBG Road, at that time one young boy who was standing near the Public Toilet situated near DBG Road on seeing these police officials, started running with fast steps towards Pul Pahar Ganj. On suspicion, they apprehended said boy, whose name was revealed as Israr, and FIR No. 318/95 Page No. 1 of 4 PS : Nabi Karim State Vs. Israr @ Abbas during his formal search, one buttondar knife measuring total length of 9 inches out of which handle was 5 inches and blade was 4 inches long, was recovered. The aforesaid knife was opened with the help of button and kept on a white paper and its sketch was prepared. Thereafter, the aforesaid knife was wrapped into pulanda and sealed with the seal of RKD and taken into police possession. IO prepared a rukka on which a case FIR No. 318/95 was registered at PS Nabi Karim.
2. Charge U/s 25 Arms Act was framed upon the accused on 27.02.2012 to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
3. In order to substantiate its case, prosecution has examined 3 witnesses.
4. Ct. Badru Khan was examined as PW-1 who deposed that on 05.10.1995 he along with Ct. Manoj Kumar and HC Raj Kumar were on patrolling duty in the Illaka, while so at about 09.10 p.m. when they reached near the Peshab Ghar, DBG Road, Multani Dhanda, Red Light at that time one young boy was coming towards them and on seeing them in the police uniform started going back. On suspicion they apprehended him and during his formal search, one buttondar knife was recovered from the right pocket of his pant in closed condition. He further deposed that the sketch of the aforesaid knife was prepared vide Ex.PW1/A and the aforesaid knife was converted into pulanda and taken into possession vide seizure memo Ex.PW1/B and accused was arrested and his personal search was conducted vide Ex.PW1/C. He also identified the accused and the knife in the Court. The knife was exhibited as P-1.
5. Ct. Manoj Kumar was examined as PW-2. PW2 stated that he was accompanying PW1 the time of alleged incident. He corroborated the testimony of PW1 regarding the circumstances under which the accused was arrested. He also identified the accused and the knife in the Court.
6. Retired HC Raj Kumar was examined as PW-3. He was the IO of the case. He also corroborated the testimony of PW1 and PW2 regarding the FIR No. 318/95 Page No. 2 of 4 PS : Nabi Karim State Vs. Israr @ Abbas circumstances under which the accused was arrested. He also exhibited the tehrir Ex.PW3/A and the site plan Ex.PW3/B. He also identified the accused and the knife in the Court.
7. Thereafter, incriminating evidence was put to the accused U/s 313 Cr. P.C. During examination of accused U/s 313 Cr. P.C. he stated that he has been falsely implicated in this case. He deposed that he was lifted from his house by the police officials in the connivance with maternal uncle of his wife Mehroon Khatoon as he wanted to take revenge from him regarding his love marriage as the maternal uncle of his wife was not agreeable to their marriage. As accused did not want to lead defence evidence, matter was final arguments. Final arguments were heard. Matter was fixed for orders.
DECISION OF THE CASE AND REASON THEREOF
8. After considering the facts and circumstances of the present case, the Court has come to a finding that accused Israr is not liable for offence u/s 25 arms Act. The reasons for aforesaid decision are as follows:
A. All the prosecution witnesses are Police officials. No public person has been joined in the investigation proceedings despite the fact that the place of arrest was a public place and the time of incident was around 9 pm only. Though, it cannot be said that merely because Police Officials are the only witnesses to the incident, same cannot be relied upon, however, their testimonies have to be read with caution. The main and foremost caution regarding the testimony of Police witnesses is that their version shall be well corroborated by circumstantial evidence. It has been stated in prosecution evidence that IO measured the dimensions of the knife with an instrument in his bag. This is highly unbelievable. A policeman on patrolling at night may carry any weapon and torch etc. but him carrying a ruler/scale is highly improbable. Further as per prosecution's case the knife was sealed with the seal of of RKD at the spot only. This also seems improbable as the Police Officials were stated to be on patrolling duty and FIR No. 318/95 Page No. 3 of 4 PS : Nabi Karim State Vs. Israr @ Abbas not going out for investigation of any case. Therefore the IO carrying his seal etc. along with him while on patrol does not correspond with the conduct of an ordinary policeman.
B. Prosecution witnesses have also failed to corroborate each others version of the facts. On one hand, PW2 in his cross examination has stated that IO has done written work while standing on the road. On the other hand, PW1 in his cross examination has stated that written work was done by the IO while sitting on the footpath. This variance raises further doubts about prosecution's case.
C. Another material circumstantial evidence regarding the acts of police officials is the daily diary register maintained at each and every Police station. Every Police Official has to record his departure, the time and the purpose for departure from the Police station. Similar entries have to be made regarding the arrival of Police Officials in the Police Station. In the present case all the 3 Police Officials were stated to be on patrolling duty but no DD entry has been proved regarding the same by prosecution. D. Last but not the least, the prosecution has adduced evidence only regarding the length of the blade of the knife allegedly recovered from the accused. It has nowhere been mentioned what was the width of the knife. Unless the length as well as the width of knife is beyond the particulars mentioned in the notification issued by the Govt., no offence can be made out in regard to possession of said knife.
9. Accordingly, the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts. The accused Israr is acquitted of the offence alleged u/s 25 Arms Act.
ANNOUNCED IN THE OPEN COURT (SACHIN SANGWAN)
TODAY ON 28.08.2012 MM-05(CENTRAL),DELHI
FIR No. 318/95 Page No. 4 of 4
PS : Nabi Karim