Delhi District Court
State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 1 Of 10) on 18 January, 2012
(P/1)
FIR NO.30/04
U/s 224 IPC
P.S. IGI Airport
IN THE COURT OF SH SAMEER BAJPAI
ADDITIONAL CHIEF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE02 ,
DWARKA COURTS
FIR NO.30/04
U/s 224 IPC
P.S. IGI Airport
Date of institution : 03.06.2005
Date of final argument : 17.01.2012
Date of final order : 18.01.2012
JUDGMENT:
A SL NO. OF THE CASE : 02403R0242292005
B: DATE OF OFFENCE : 17.01.2004
C: NAME OF THE : State
COMPLAINANT
D: NAME OF THE : Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik
Accused S/o Sh. Rashik Rangoz
Bhoomik R/o 204, Sargem
cooperative Bangur
Nagar, Goregaon (W),
Mumbai
E: OFFENCE : U/s 224 IPC
COMPLAINED OF
F: PLEA OF ACCUSED : Pleaded not guilty.
State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 1 of 10)
(P/2)
FIR NO.30/04
U/s 224 IPC
P.S. IGI Airport
G: FINAL ORDER : Acquitted
H: DATE OF SUCH : 18.01.2012
ORDER
BRIEF REASONS FOR DECISION:
1. The case of the prosecution is that on 17.01.2004, between 9.15 am to 9.30 am, the accused Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik escaped from the custody of SI Naresh Kumar. Prior to this on 16.01.2004, the accused was handed over to SI Naresh Kumar as LOC Pax by immigration staff. Accused was wanted in CR No. 45/03, U/s 420/406/34 IPC PS MHB Mumbai. The accused was then kept in custody and the investigating officer of CR No. 45/03 of Mumbai was informed. On 17.01.2004, when the accused was taken by SI Naresh Kumar for making telephone call to his relatives, he ran away from the custody taking benefit of the crowd.
2. After investigation charge sheet was filed. Prima facie case U/s 224 IPC was made out against the accused. After compliance of section 207 Cr. P.C on 16.11.2006, charge was framed against accused to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed to be trial.
3. In support of its case prosecution examined eleven witnesses. State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 2 of 10) (P/3) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport
4. The deposition of PW1 SI Naresh Kumar is that on 16.01.2004, he was posted at PS IGI Airport. On that day accused was handed over to him as LOC Pax by immigration staff. Accused was wanted in CR No. 45/03 U/s 420/406/34 IPC PS MHB Mumbai. Accused was kept in custody and the investigating officer of CR No. 45/03 of Mumbai was informed. The IO had informed that he would be reaching within short time and till then the accused be kept in custody. The accused had already encashed 200 US dollars from bank for taking medicines and to talk to his relatives in Canada, but the phone could not be connected and thereafter, the accused was kept in safe custody in the night and on the next day i.e. 17.01.2004, when he was taken for making telephone to his relatives at about 9.009.30 am, at arrival hall, he ran away. Thereafter, his statement was recorded. This witness proved seizure memo of the documents recovered from the accused as Ex.PW1/A.
5. PW2 Ashok Sharma, a witness from State Bank of India just deposed that on 16.01.2004, the accused had encashed 200 US dollars from exchange bureau.
6. The deposition of PW3 Ct. Vinod Kumar is that on 16.01.2004, State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 3 of 10) (P/4) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport while he was posted at PS IGI Airport, he was detained for duty vide DD No. 23B for LOC Pax i.e. the accused. The IO of the LOC Pax was SI Naresh Kumar and he was busy on the said LOC Pax from the night of 16.01.2004 till the morning of 17.01.2004 upto 9.15 am. In the meantime IO SI Naresh Kumar had told that he was going to take the accused to the arrival hall for making call and for enquiry. He had also asked the IO to accompany him but the IO asked him to stay at the PS. After about 15 minutes SI Naresh Kumar came alone and revealed that LOC Pax had ran away from custody he then immediately came outside with SI Ramesh Kumar and tried to trace the accused but failed. IO then recorded his statement vide Ex.PW3/A. Thereafter, IO prepared rukka and the case was registered as FIR No 30/04 U/s 224 IPC. This witness has proved the DD entry as Ex.PW3/B.
7. PW4 ASI Devi Ram deposed that on 17.01.2004, he was posted at PS IGI Airport as duty officer from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm and on that day at 10.15 am after receiving a rukka DD No. 14A from SHO, he got the case registered. Thereafter, copy of FIR and rukka were handed over to IO SI Virender Singh.
State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 4 of 10) (P/5) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport
8. PW5 HC Hari Singh deposed that as per the entry No. 588/04 dated 17.01.2004 in register No. 19, the case property was deposited in Malkhana by SI Virender Singh. This witness proved the relevant entry in Register No.19 as Ex.PW5/A.
9. PW6 Inspector Rajinder Sharma just deposed that on 17.01.2004, while he was posted as SHO, PS IGI Airport, complaint of Ct. Vinod Kumar was given to him and after endorsement case was registered and investigation was handed over to SI Virender. This witness proved the endorsement as Ex.PW6/A.
10. PW7 W/ASI Kamlesh deposed that on 16.01.2004, while he was posted at FRRO immigration, IGI Airport, at around 2.45 PM Flight No. CX753 arrived and passenger Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik approached the counter for clearance. On scrutiny from the computer record, it was revealed that the passenger was an LOC subject. The information was given at PS and SI Naresh Kumar came, to whom the passenger was handed over. This witness proved the LOC form as Ex.PW7/A.
11. PW8 HC Hari Om just proved the relevant entry in Roznamcha as Ex.PW8/A and Ex.PW8/B. State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 5 of 10) (P/6) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport
12. The deposition of PW9 Asst. Police Inspector Jayant Ram Chander Bhogle is that in June, 2003 he was posted in Economic Offence Wing Mumbi. Initially the case FIR No. 87/2003 was registered at MHB Colony PS Boriwali Mumbai, on 06.05.2003 against APPEX Impex Pvt. Ltd. , Rodriks Niranjan Shetty, Bharat Shah and company director. Initially the investigation of the case was conducted by police inspector Raja Kadam and then the same was handed over to him. On the same day the case was transferred to EOW vide CR No. 45/03. During investigation , it was revealed that the offence had been committed by the director Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik. Since, he was not traceable , LOC was opened and red corner notice was also issued through Interpole . On 16.01.2004 a Fax message was received from Delhi Police Control Room at EOW Mumbai about the location of the accused at IGI Airport. Then he came to Delhi on 18.01.2004 alongwith his staff and came to know from SI Naresh Kumar about the escaping of the accused. The accused then surrendered himself before the court at Mumbai at 03.03.2004 and was arrested. Thereafter, he filed charge sheet in Mumbai case.
13. PW10 HC Ram Asrey deposed that on 18.03.2004, while he was State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 6 of 10) (P/7) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport posted at PS IGI Airport, accused Baskar Rasik Bhoomik was arrested by the IO in the present case and after interrogation his disclosure statement was recorded as Ex.PW10/B. This witness also proved arrest memo of the accused as Ex.PW10/A.
14. PW11 Inspector Virender Singh , the IO of the case deposed that on 17.01.2004, he was posted at PS IGI Airport as SI and the investigation of this case was assigned to him. This witness further deposed that he seized travel documents produced by SI Naresh Kumar mentioned in the seizure memo already exhibited as Ex.PW1/A. Further the travel documents i.e. Ticket , boarding pass disembarkation card , telephone calls receipt and LOC Detection form were seized as already Ex.PW7/A. This witness further deposed that passport of the accused had already been released after undertaking that he would not dispute the authenticity of the passport copies.
15. Thereafter prosecution evidence was closed and statement of accused Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik U/s 313 Cr. PC was recorded. Accused did not opt to lead evidence in defence.
16. I have perused the record, heard the Ld. APP and the Ld. Counsel State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 7 of 10) (P/8) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport for accused.
17. PW1 SI Naresh Kumar, to whom the accused was handed over supported the prosecution case and deposed that on the alleged day, time and place the accused ran away from the custody taking benefit of the crowd. The deposition of PW1 has been supported by PW3 Ct. Vinod Kumar. The prosecution has to proved that the accused escaped from the custody in which he was lawfully detained for some offence. The prosecution has not proved any document to show the lawful custody of the accused. During the course of arguments Ld. APP drew my attention to Ex.PW7/A, which is a form showing the handing over of the accused to PS IGI Airport. The contents of this documets Ex.PW7/A show that through this document the accused was merely handed over to the police, PS IGI Airport. The contents of this document do not show that the police PS IGI Airport was authorized to keep the accused in custody for further period. In my opinion for further custody of the accused, his entry had to be made in roznamcha or some other register used for entry of the custody of such person. It was the contention of the Ld. Defence Counsel also that the accused was never in lawful custody of the police and therefore , there was State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 8 of 10) (P/9) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport no question of escaping from lawful custody. The contents of Section 224 IPC clearly show that the offence described therein is committed only when some persons escape from a lawful custody or detention. In cross examination, PW1 SI Naresh Kumar deposed that he did not record any entry in the daily diary at the police station when the accused was brought there. PW11 Inspector Virender Singh also stated that the accused was not kept in lockup on the day of incident and further the arrest of the accused was not mentioned in the roznamcha on 17.01.2004 till he escaped. PW1 rather deposed that the accused was allowed to stay in a dormitory managed by the airport authority. The testimony of PW2, the witness from SBI and of other witnesses show that during the relevant period the accused was even allowed to move to the State Bank of India exchange bureau from where he encashed 200 US dollars. From the deposition of the prosecution witnesses, it is clear that the accused was not in lawful custody. In Syed Aref S/o Syed Omer Vs. The State of Maharashtra on 30 March, 1995, the Hon'ble Mumbai High Court explained Section 224 IPC. In the given case, the accused was just called in the police station for the State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 9 of 10) (P/10) FIR NO.30/04 U/s 224 IPC P.S. IGI Airport purpose of enquiry and interrogation. The accused left the police station without intimating the investigating officer and prosecuted for the offence U/s 224 IPC. In the given case, there was no entry in the police station about the detention or the custody of the accused. Therefore, the custody of the accused was considered unlawful and the he was acquitted of the offence charged with. In the case at hand also the accused was not in lawful custody. There is no entry of his detention in roznamcha or daily dairy. Even, the accused was left alone to stay in IGI dormitory, where he was not in control of any police officer. It is very clear that the escape of the accused can not be said to be from lawful custody.
18. Keeping in view the above observation, facts and circumstances, I am left with no option but to hold that prosecution has failed miserably to prove its case against the accused. Accused Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik is therefore acquitted from the charge U/s 224 IPC.
File be consigned to record room.
(SAMEER BAJPAI) ANNOUNCED IN THE OPEN Addl. Chief Metropolitan COURT ON 18.01.2012 Magistrate02/Dwarka Courts State vs Bhaskar Rasik Bhoomik ( Page 10 of 10)