Delhi District Court
State vs Igwe Chukwu on 1 November, 2022
IN THE COURT OF SH. PUNEET PAHWA,
CHIEF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE, DISTRICT SOUTH,
SAKET COURTS COMPLEX, NEW DELHI.
CNR No.DLST02-013556-2022
IN THE MATTER OF:
State Vs Igwe Chukwu
FIR No.235/2022
PS Ambedkar Nagar
U/s 224 IPC
JUDGMENT
A) Sl. No. of the case : CR No. 4014/2022
B) The date of commission of : 13.04.2022
offence
C) The name of the complainant : Ct. Dinesh Kumarr, No.1902/SD,
Narcotics Squad South District,
Madangir, New Delhi.
D) The name and address of : Igwe Chukwu S/o Mr. Chukwu
accused Sh. Sanjay Sharma R/o Devli
Village Neb Sarai, New Delhi.
Permanent address Village Inpora,
State Abia, Nigeria.
E) Offence complained of : 224 IPC
F) The plea of accused : Not Guilty
G) Final Order : Acquitted
H) The date of such Order : 01.11.2022
DATE OF INSTITUTION : 25.06.2022
DATE OF FINAL ARGUMENTS : 01.11.2022
DATE OF JUDGMENT : 01.11.2022
FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.1 of 7
THE BRIEF REASONS FOR THE JUDGMENT:-
1. The present case has originated from the charge-sheet filed by the State, against accused Igwe Chukwu S/o Mr. Chukwu. As per charge- sheet, on 13.04.2022 at about 03:00 PM, at Narcotics Squad, Madangir, New Delhi, accused escaped from the lawful custody despite being detained in a lawful manner and thus committed offence under Section 224 of IPC.
2. On the basis of the charge-sheet, court took cognizance of the offence and the accused produced on 19.07.2022, thereafter, he was supplied with copy of charge-sheet and documents in compliance of Section 207 Cr.P.C. Court framed charge against the accused for offence punishable under Section 224 IPC. Charge was read over and explained to him to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
3. During trial, accused admitted under Section 294 Cr.P.C. the registration of FIR No.235/2022, PS Ambedkar Nagar without admitting its contents, GD No.41A dated 08.04.2022, GD No.48A dated 26.04.2022, GD No.19A dated 27.04.2022 all of PS Ambedkar Nagar without admitting their contents, DD no.3 dated 18.04.2022 Narcotics Squad, DD no.5 dated 18.04.2022, Narcotics Squad without admitting its content, which exhibited as Ex.A1 to Ex.A6. Also, the State examined three witnesses viz. PW-1 ASI Rajesh Kumar, PW-2 Ct. Dinesh Kumar and PW-3 Ct. Chhotu Ram.
4. During examination in chief, PW-1 ASI Rajesh Kumar deposed that on 13.04.2022, he was posted at Narcotics Squad South District. On that FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.2 of 7 day, he arrested accused IGWE CHUKWU in case FIR No.278/22 u/s 21 NDPS Act PS Neb Sarai. At that time, they first took him to their office and at that time he was in custody of Ct. Dinesh. Accused asked Ct. Dinesh that he wanted to go to washroom. After which Ct. Dinesh took him to the toilet near DO room. However, all of a sudden, accused pushed Ct. Dinesh and climbed the wall of their office and fled away. Ct. Dinesh shouted for help after which other staff also went there. Ct Dinesh climbed the wall and other staff also chased accused but could not succeed. Ct. Dinesh gave complaint in this regard to senior officials after which the present case was registered. They tried to search accused and finally on 18.04.2022, on the basis of secret information, PW1 alongwith Ct. Chhotu Ram, Ct. Joginder, Ct. Sanjay, SI Ankit and Ct. Praveen, who were already searching for accused in Mehrauli in several houses where Nigerian normally resides, went there and accused was found near Prince public school, Mehrauli. Accused was arrested. Arrest memo of accused is Ex.PW1/A. Accused was produced before Ld. ASJ from where he was sent to JC. The information of arrest was shared with IO of this case. Witness correctly identified the accused before the Court. PW-1 was duly cross-examined by Ld. Counsel for the Defence.
5. PW-2 Ct. Dinesh Kumar, deposed that on 13.04.2022, he was posted at Narcotics Squad South District. On that day, ASI Rajesh arrested accused IGWE CHUKWU in case FIR No.278/22 u/s 21 NDPS Act PS Neb Sarai. He brought the accused to Narcotics office. The custody of accused was handed over to him. Accused told him that he had stomach pain and FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.3 of 7 wanted to go to toilet. After which, PW1 took him to the toilet near DO room. However, all of a sudden, accused pushed him and climbed the wall of their office and fled away. PW1 shouted for help after which other staff also went there. PW1 climbed the wall and with the help of other staff also chased accused but they could not succeed. He gave complaint in this regard to his senior officials after which the present case was registered. His complaint is Ex.PW2/A. He prepared site plan at his instance which is Ex.PW2/B. Witness correctly identified the accused before the Court. PW-2 was duly cross-examined by Ld. Counsel for the Defence.
6. PW-3 Ct. Chhotu Ram deposed that on 18.04.2022, he was posted at Narcotics Squad. On that day, he alongwith Ct. Joginder, Ct. Sanjay, SI Ankit and Ct. Praveen were searching for accused IGWE CHUKWU who absconded from the police custody on 13.04.2022. While searching for accused in Mehrauli in several houses where Nigerian normally resides, they went to Prince public school Mehrauli where accused was found. Accused was arrested. Accused was produced before Ld. ASJ from where he was sent to JC. Witness also identified the accused present before the Court. PW-3 was duly cross-examined by Ld. Counsel for the Defence.
7. Upon conclusion of prosecution evidence, statement of accused under Section 313 Cr.P.C. read with Section 281 Cr.P.C. was recorded in which all incriminating material was put to him, to which he pleaded innocence and claimed to have been falsely implicated. Accused chose not to FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.4 of 7 lead any defence evidence. Final arguments of both the parties were heard at length.
COURT OBSERVATION:
8. It is the case of prosecution that on 13.04.2022 at about 3:00 PM at Narcotics Squad, Madangir, New Delhi, accused escaped from the lawful custody despite being detained in a lawful manner and thus committed offence under Section 224 of IPC. Per contra, it is the Defence of accused that no public witness joined the proceedings. Also, there is discrepancy in the depositions of the witnesses. It has further been submitted by ld. Counsel for the accused that no CCTV footage has been filed on record so as to show that the accused escaped from the custody of the police from their office nor any other evidence has been placed on record to that effect.
9. The accused has been charged under Section 224 IPC and for the applicability of Section 224 IPC, the first and foremost condition is that the accused must be in lawful custody and he escaped or attempted to escape from such lawful custody. Not even an iota of evidence has come on record so as to show that the accused was in lawful custody of the police on 13.04.2022. As per the case of the prosecution, the accused was arrested on 13.04.2022 in FIR No.278/2022 under Section 21 NDPS Act and Section 14 Foreigners Act PS Neb Sarai. Niether any evidence nor any documents prove on record so as to show that the accused has been arrested in the said FIR on 13.04.2022 or that he was in lawful custody of the police at that time.
FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.5 of 7 Admittedly, at the time of arrest there are various documents such as arrest memo are to be prepared by the IO in compliance of the law but no such documents has been placed on record which makes it doubtful as to whether actually the accused was in custody or not at that time. Further, it has been alleged that the accused escaped from the custody when he was in custody of the Narcotics Squad and no CCTV Footage has been placed on record to show that he escaped from such custody and it is hard to believe that no CCTV camera is installed in the entire office of the Narcotic Squad. Thus, the prosecution has miserably failed to prove not only that the accused was in lawful custody of the police but also failed to prove that he attempted to escape or escaped from their custody. The only evidence which has come on record is to that effect that the accused was arrested on 18.04.2022.
10. The deposition of PW-2 and PW-3 are only hearsay in nature as they were told by PW-1 regarding escape of the accused from the custody. Therefore, their deposition cannot be relied upon so far as the present case is concerned.
11. In view of the aforesaid, as neither there are any eye witnesses to the commission of the offence nor the essential ingredients of Section 224 IPC have been proved beyond reasonable doubt, I am of the opinion that the accused is entitled to be acquitted for offence under Section 224 IPC. Accused is acquitted accordingly. Documents, if any, be returned after cancellation of the endorsement, if any, on property receipt and identification. Accused is directed to furnish necessary personal bond under FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.6 of 7 Section 437A CrPC.
12. Case property, if any, be confiscated to the State after the expiry of the period of the appeal.
13. File be consigned to Record Room, after due compliances.
(PUNEET PAHWA) CHIEF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE DISTRICT SOUTH, SAKET COURTS COMPLEX Announced in the open Court On 01st November, 2022 FIR No.235/2022 PS Ambedkar Nagar Page No.7 of 7