Delhi District Court
State vs . Mohd. Jakir & Ors. on 27 January, 2020
IN THE COURT BY SH. VISHAL SINGH, ADDITIONAL SESSIONS
JUDGE-03: WEST DISTRICT, THC, DELHI.
UID No. 57064/2016
State Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors.
FIR No. 185/2012
U/s. 392/397/365/482/411/34 IPC & Section 25/54/59 Arms Act.
PS: Punjabi Bagh
JUDGMENT
1. Sr. No. of the case : 57064/2016
2. Date of Committal to Sessions : 06.06.2013
3. Name of the complainant : Sh. Kundan Singh
4. Date of Commission of Offence : 01/06/2012
5. Name and Parentage of Accused : 1. Md. Jakir S/o. Md. Rashid
R/o. VPO Maniya Ka Bas Biwa,
PS Firozpur Jhirka, Distt. Nooh,
Haryana.
2. Saddam S/o. Mohd. Rashid
R/o. VPO Maniya Ka Bas Biwa,
PS Firozpur Jhirka, Distt. Nooh.
Haryana.
3. Asgar S/o. Sumer, R/o. VPO
Maniya Ka Bas Biwa, PS Firozpur
Jhirka, Distt. Nooh, Haryana.
4. Akhtar S/o. Sumer, R/o. VPO
Maniya Ka Bas Biwa, PS Firozpur
Jhirka, Distt. Nooh, Haryana.
FIR No. 185/2012
PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 1/15
6. Offence complained of : 392/397/365/482/411/34 IPC &
Section 25/54/59 Arms Act.
7. Offence Charged : Accused Md. Jakir - U/s.
392/365/482/411/34 IPC &
Section 25 Arms Act.
Accused Saddam - U/s.
392/397/365/482/411/34 IPC.
Accused Asgar & Akhtar - U/s.
392/365/34 IPC & Sec. 174A IPC
8. Plea of Guilt : Not guilty.
9. Final Order : Acquitted.
10. Date on which Order Reserved : 10.01.2020.
11. Date on which Order Announced : 27.01.2020.
BRIEF FACTS AND REASONS FOR DECISION:
1. The accused persons have faced trial on the charge of abducting complainant Kundan Singh, who was the driver of dumper truck no. HR55K6018, and his helper Sonu on 01/06/2012, at about 1:00am (night), at Ganda Nala Pul, near Bus Stand 85, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, and robbing them of the said dumper truck by using country made pistol in furtherance of their common intention. The robbed dumper truck with forged number plate was recovered from the possession of accused Mohd. Zakir and Saddam on the same day at Nooh, Mewat, Haryana.
2. The FIR dated 01/06/2012 was registered at the statement of victim Kundan Kumar Singh, who was the driver of dumper truck no. HR55K6018. He stated that on 01/06/2012, at around 12:40am (night), he and his helper Sonu FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 2/15 unloaded the dumper of malba (trash) carried in it, at Karnal Bypass Khatta (dumping yard). Thereupon, they headed back towards Naraina Vihar. At around 01:00am, a white Scorpio Car overtook their dumper and intercepted it. Three out of the four occupants of the Scorpio Car came out, out of whom two overpowered him, whereas, another overpowered helper Sonu. One of assailants threatened driver Kundan with a countrymade pistol (desi katta). The assailants pulled Kundan and Sonu down the dumper. The assailants put them in their Scorpio, blind folded them and tied their limbs with a cloth. The assailants dropped them at a deserted place (Jungle) near Ring Road, between Narayana and Dhaula Kuan and took away the robbed dumper.
3. Complainant Kundan untied Sonu's handcuffs with his teeth, who, in turn, untied him. They reached Ring Road and called their employer Jagdeep Singh, who, in turn, called police at 100 number. Police officials took them to the spot of incident. Complainant gave description of robbers to police and told that he could identify the robbers. His statement was recorded by SI Sanwar Mal and FIR was registered at 08:10am on 01/06/2012. At the instance of complainant, the cloth used to tie his and Sonu's limbs were recovered from the jungle (deserted place) between Narayana and Dhaula Kuan.
4. The robbed dumper was fitted with GPS tracking system. Dumper's owner Jagdeep Singh tracked its GPS location, with the help of which they took the route of Sohna Road and reached Biva through Punhana and Jamal Garh. The location of dumper truck was near brick kilns as per GPS. As the car used by police reached near the dumper truck, it moved again towards Biva. The police party chased the truck and intercepted it a kilometer after crossing Mania Baas village. Two occupants of the dumper truck jumped out in order to flee but FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 3/15 they were apprehended. The apprehended boys were accused Jakir and Saddam. On personal search of accused Jakir, a countrymade pistol with live cartridge was recovered from him. The recovered dumper was found painted in yellow colour with forged registration number HR742664. The dumper was taken into possession and accused Jakir and Saddam were arrested. They disclosed the involvement of coaccused Asgar and Akhtar as their accomplices.
5. Accused Jakir and Saddam refused to participate in judicial TIP. Since co accused Asgar and Akhtar evaded arrest, proceedings U/s. 82 CrPC was initiated against them. Chargesheet U/s. 173 CrPC was filed for the offence U/s. 392/397/365/482/411/34 IPC & Section 25 Arms Act against accused Jakir and Saddam. Accused Asgar and Akhtar were declared proclaimed offender by the court on 10/09/2012. Accused Akhtar was subsequently arrested in some other case. On 10/12/2014, accused Akhtar was formally arrested in the present case in the court. He admitted his involvement in the commission of offence alongwith coaccused persons. Accused Akhtar too refused to participate in judicial TIP. Supplementary chargesheet was filed on 06/02/2015 against accused Akhtar.
6. Similarly, accused Asgar was subsequently arrested in some other case on 15/05/2015. Accused Asgar was formally arrested in this case in the court. He admitted his involvement in the commission of offence alongwith coaccused persons. Accused Asgar was correctly identified as one of the robbers by complainant Kundan Singh in judicial TIP. Supplementary chargesheet was filed on 26/06/2015 against accused Asgar. The Scorpio Car used by the accused persons remained untraceable.
FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 4/157. Upon completion of necessary formalities, the chargesheet and supplementary chargesheets were committed for trial to this Court. Accused Mohd. Jakir and Saddam were charged for the offence U/s. 392/365/482/411/34 IPC. Accused Saddam was additionally charged for the offence U/s. 397 IPC for using deadly weapon (desi katta) at the time of commission of robbery. Accused Mohd. Jakir was additionally charged U/s. 25 Arms Act for possession of prohibited firearm. Accused Akhtar and Asgar were charged for the offence U/s. 392/365/34 IPC and U/s. 174A IPC.
8. (a) To prove its case, the prosecution examined total 11 witnesses. PW1 HC Satbir Singh deposed regarding joining the raiding party alongwith Inspector Maninder, SI Manohar Lal, SI Sandeep Dabas, SI Anuj, HC Naresh, HC Shanti Swaroop, Ct. Amit, Ct. Naveen and Ct. Harjeevan on 01/06/2012 to go to Mewat area, near Janalgarh, to recover the robbed dumper. He deposed about meeting complainant Kundan at Naraina and proceedings conducted by IO at the place where complainant and helper Sonu were thrown by the assailants. He deposed regarding preparation of site plan Ex. PW1/A at the instance of complainant Kundan, seizure of the rope vide memo Ex. PW1/B with which complainant and his helper Sonu were tied by the assailants. He deposed about tracking of the location of robbed truck by the IO with the help of GPS, splitting of raiding party into three groups, chasing and recovery of robbed dumper truck no. HR55K6018. He deposed that accused Jakir was apprehended by him and SI Pankaj, whereas, accused Saddam was apprehended by SI Anuj.
8. (b) He deposed that one desi katta was recovered from the possession of accused Saddam and recovered desi katta was seized vide memo Ex. PW1/C with one live cartridge seized vide memo Ex. PW1/D. The recovered dumper FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 5/15 truck with fake number plate was seized vide memo Ex. PW1/E. The site plan of the place from where the dumper was recovered was prepared vide memo Ex. PW1/F. He deposed about arrest of accused Jakir vide memo Ex. PW1/G, arrest of accused Saddam vide memo Ex. PW1/H, conducting of their personal search vide memos Ex. PW1/I and Ex. PW1/J, recording of disclosure statements of both the accused persons vide memos Ex. PW1/K and Ex. PW1/L and pointing out memos of place of incident vide memos Ex. PW1/M and Ex. PW1/N, at the instance of accused persons. He correctly identified accused Jakir in the court. He also identified the case properties i.e. three pieces of cloths Ex. P1 and desi katta alongwith test fired cartridge Ex. P2 (colly.). In cross examination conducted by Ld. APP, PW1 admitted that the loaded desi katta was recovered from the possession of accused Jakir.
9. PW2/complainant Kundan Kumar Singh deposed about robbery of dumper truck bearing registration no. HR55K6018 from him and his helper Sonu, near Bus Stand of route number 85, by four assailants at the point of deadly weapon i.e. desi katta and their abduction by the robbers in their Scorpio Car with their limbs tied and eyes covered with piece of cloth. He deposed about informing his employer Jagdeep Singh about the incident, recording of his statement Ex. PW2/A by police and preparation of site plans Ex. PW1/A and Ex. PW2/B. He identified all the accused persons and specifically pointed out at accused Saddam as one of the assailants who pointed desi katta towards him. He also identified the case property Ex. P1 (colly.) and P2 (colly.).
10.PW3 Sonu, helper of complainant Kundan Singh, corroborated the testimony of PW2/complainant Kundan Singh regarding their abduction and robbery of dumper truck no. HR55K6018 from them by four assailants. He did not identify the accused persons as the assailants who abducted and robbed them.
FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 6/15He stated that he could not identify the rope, which the assailants used to tie them, due to lapse of four years and the incident occurred at night time. He was declared hostile by Ld. Add. PP for State. However, despite cross examination by Ld. Addl. PP, he did not identify the accused persons as the robbers.
11.PW4 is Ved Prakash, S.P. Anini, Arunachal Pradesh. He deposed that after going through the relevant record of the present case, he gave sanction Ex. PW4/A to prosecute accused Mohd. Jakir and Saddam for the offence U/s. 39 Arms Act.
12.PW5 is Jagdeep Singh, employer of complainant/driver Kundan Singh and helper Sonu. He deposed about receiving call from his driver Kundan Singh on 31.05.2012, at about 11:45pm, regarding robbery of dumper truck no. HR 55K6018 by some culprits. He deposed about reaching the spot at Punjabi Bagh and calling police at 100 number. Thereupon, he alongwith police officials reached near CNG Pump, Ring Road, where they met victim Kundan Singh and Sonu. From CNG Pump, he alongwith police officials went to PS Punjabi Bagh. From PS Punjabi Bagh, he went to his home and after about 12 hours, he returned to PS Punjabi Bagh. He deposed about tracing the location the robbed truck with help of GPS fitted in it, through his laptop. He deposed about locating the dumper, chasing it and recovery thereof from village Punhana on 01/06/2012, at about 02:00pm, from accused Mohd. Jakir and Saddam with fake number plate. He deposed about seizure of recovered dumper by police, recovery of desi katta from one of the assailants, arrest of accused Jakir and Saddam, preparation of site plans of the spot as well as place of recovery of dumper and taking of the dumper on superdari vide superdarinama Ex. PW5/A from the Court. In cross examination by Ld. Addl. PP, he admitted that the dumper was recovered from village Maniya Ka Baas, FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 7/15 which is near Punhana. He also admitted that the katta was loaded with one live cartridge. He identified the dumper through photographs Ex. P4 to Ex. P8, which he filed during releasing of same on superdari. He also identified the case properties i.e. three pieces of cloths Ex. P1 and desi katta alongwith test fired cartridge Ex. P2 (colly.).
13.PW6 SI Anuj deposed about joining the raiding team headed by Inspector Maninder Singh, ATO, PS Punjab, and the proceedings conducted by the raiding team.
14.PW7 Arshi Abrar, erstwhile Sales Manager of Fast Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (Fastrackerz), identified the signature of accounts manager Manoj Parashar on moving report Ex. PW7/A of robbed dumper for date 01/06/2012. In cross examination, he admitted that Manoj Parashar had not given certificate U/s. 65B Indian Evidence Act alongwith the moving report.
15.PW8 Retired SI Sanwar Mal deposed about receiving DD No.7A Ex. PW8/A on 01/06/2012 and reaching alongwith Ct. Ajit Singh at the spot i.e. Karampura Road, near Ganda Nala, Bus Stop No. 85, Ring Road, Punjabi Bagh, and taking statement Ex. PW2/A of complainant Kundan Kumar. He deposed about sending rukka Ex. PW8/B to get the FIR registered. Upon registration of FIR, the investigation was handed over to SI Pankaj Thakur.
16.PW9 ASI Narender Kumar, MHC(M) PS Punjabi Bagh, deposed that on 01/06/2012 SI Pankaj Kumar deposited two pullandas in sealed condition with the seal of PKT, one dumper truck with fake number plate bearing no. HR74 2664 and articles recovered during personal search of accused Jakir. In this regard, he made entry Ex. PW9/A in register no.19. He deposed about sending FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 8/15 of a pullanda sealed with the seal of PKT, containing desi katta and live cartridge to FSL on 27/06/2012 regarding which entry Ex. PW9B was made in register no.21, the acknowledgment of receipt of case property in FSL is Ex. PW9/C. As per record, the FSL result was received on 24/09/2012. He deposed about release of dumper truck on superdari on 04/06/2012.
17.(a) PW10 IO SI Pankaj Kumar deposed about investigation conducted by him after registration of FIR. He deposed that at the instance of complainant Kundan Kumar he prepared the site plan Ex. PW2/B. In the meantime, Jagdeep Singh, owner of the robbed dumper also reached there. He left Ct. Ajit at the spot and came back to PS alongwith owner Jagdeep Singh, who revealed that GPA device was installed in the robbed dumper. He discussed the matter with the SHO and a raiding team was constituted under supervision of ATO Maninder Singh. The raiding team left the police station in three vehicles. The spot was on the way, from where victims Kundan Kumar and Sonu also accompanied the raiding team. When they reached the ridge area between Narain and Dhaula Kuan flyover, Kundan and Sonu pointed out the place where they were thrown by assailants from their Scorpio. At their instance, the police recovered three cloth ropes and seized them vide memo Ex. PW1/B. The site plan Ex. PW1/A of place of recovery was prepared. He recorded statement of Sonu and supplementary statement of Kundan.
17.(b) The victims were left at the spot, whereas, raiding teach proceeded on Sohna Road and Punhana, towards Mewat. They received the location of dumper near brick kiln near village Maniya Ka Baas. ATO Maninder Singh directed the three teams to split and search the vehicle from different directions. When the raiding teams spotted the dumper at one of the brick kiln, they intercepted it from both sides. After a brief chase, they stopped the FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 9/15 dumper and arrested its occupants i.e. accused Jakir and Saddam. He deposed that accused Jakir was apprehended by him and HC Satbir, whereas, accused Saddam was apprehended by SI Anuj. He deposed that one desi katta was recovered from the possession of accused Saddam and recovered desi katta was seized vide memo Ex. PW1/C with one live cartridge seized vide memo Ex. PW1/D. The recovered dumper truck with fake number plate was seized vide memo Ex. PW1/E. The site plan of the place from where the dumper was recovered was prepared vide memo Ex. PW1/F. He deposed about arrest of accused Jakir vide memo Ex. PW1/G, arrest of accused Saddam vide memo Ex. PW1/H, conducting of their personal search vide memos Ex. PW1/I and Ex. PW1/J, recording of disclosure statements of both the accused persons vide memos Ex. PW1/K and Ex. PW1/L and pointing out memos of place of incident vide memos Ex. PW1/M and Ex. PW1/N, at the instance of accused persons.
18.PW11 SI Vikram Singh deposed about formal arrest of accused Akhtar on 10/12/2014 and accused Asgar on 15/05/2015, when they were produced before the Court in some other case. He filed supplementary chargesheets against them.
19.The accused persons admitted genuineness of FIR No. 185/2012 (Ex. P4), TIP proceedings conducted by Ld. MM (Ex. P5) and FSL report No. 2012/F4734 dated 03/09/2012 (Ex. P6) U/s. 294 CrPC. For this reason, requirement to prove the said documents through examination of witnesses, was obviated and witnesses were dropped.
20.All the incriminating evidence that came on record in the deposition of prosecution witnesses were put to the accused persons and their statement were FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 10/15 recorded U/s. 313 CrPC. They refuted all the incriminating evidence and asserted that they were falsely implicated in the present case. The accused persons did not lead any evidence in their defence.
21.I have heard the final arguments from Ld. Addl. PP for State and from Ld. defence counsels.
22.Ld. defence counsel argued that identity of accused persons as the offenders has not been established, neither is the recovery of robbed truck and prohibited firearm with cartridge proved from their possession. Ld. defence counsel pointed that PW3 Sonu did not identify accused persons as the assailants who committed abduction and robbery of the dumper truck. On the other hand, although, PW2 Kundan identified accused persons as the assailants, he admitted in cross examination that due to darkness, he could not see the faces of culprits properly. PW2 admitted that when he visited Tihar Jail for judicial TIP proceedings, IO had shown him the photograph of accused Asgar. PW2 admitted that he was not sure if the accused persons were the same persons who had robbed him on the day of incident as there was darkness and he could not see their faces properly. He admitted that he was not sure about the accused who had shown him the katta (country made pistol) at the time of incident as there was darkness. His cross examination conducted by Ld. Addl. PP, did not yield any reply favourable to prosecution.
23.Ld. defence counsel argued that it is beyond comprehension why victims Kundan and Sonu were not joined in the raiding team constituted to recover the robbed dumper as they were the best persons to identify the culprits at the time of recovery of dumper. Victims Kundan and Sonu sustained no bodily injury in the incident and were available for joining the raiding team but they were not FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 11/15 joined. No reasonable explanation was given by the IO in this regard.
24.Ld. defence counsel argued that no raiding team was constituted in this case as no DD entry or any other written record of constituting a raiding team and its departure from the police station was filed by IO.
25.PW5 Jagdeep Singh deposed that when he alongwith police raiding team and arrested accused Jakir and Saddam reached at police station, the accused persons were identified by Kundan and Sonu in the police station. On the other hand, there is no deposition of PW2 Kundan and PW3 Sonu that they identified accused Jakir and Saddam when they were brought by the police raiding team to the police station. To the contrary, PW10 IO SI Pankaj Kumar deposed that accused Jakir and Saddam were sent to lock up after their medical checkup. He moved an application before Ld. MM for judicial TIP of accused persons through the victims but the accused persons refused to participate in TIP. If the deposition of PW5 Jagdeep Singh that accused Jakir and Saddam were identified in the police station by the victims were to be believed, there was no rationale for conducting of their judicial TIP.
26.The Scorpio Car allegedly used by the offenders was never traced by police. The GPS record, with the help of which the robbed dumper truck was traced, remained unproved through moving report Ex. PW7/A as neither the authorized person (Manoj Parashar), who handed it over to the IO was examined in the Court, nor was the computerized movement report Ex. PW7/A accompanied by certificate U/s. 65B Indian Evidence Act. The instrument with which the movement of dumper truck was tracked by the raiding team, was not produced before the Court. PW1 HC Satbir Singh stated in cross examination FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 12/15 that IO had verified the location of GPS by his private instrument that he was carrying. His deposition was in contrast to the prosecution case that Jagdeep Singh was carrying the GPS tracking device with him. Rather, the nature of GPS tracking device remained unclear during entire trial. The entire prosecution case revolved around tracking of the robbed dumper with a GPS tracking device, which itself remained enshrouded in mystery.
27.PW10 IO SI Pankaj Kumar deposed that intimation of arrival of police raiding team was made to local police station Firozpur Zirka, within jurisdiction of which they apprehended accused Jakir and Saddam and recovered the robbed truck at Maniya Ka Baas. However, no such record of local police station was filed by IO to substantiate the proceedings conducted at the time of arrest and recovery.
28.PW5 Jagdeep Singh deposed that the robbed dumper truck bearing registration no. HR55K6018 was recovered with a fake number plate. The fake number plate was not seized or produced by the IO. PW10 IO SI Pankaj Kumar deposed that the mechanical inspection of the dumper truck was got conducted which revealed that its colour has been changed. He admitted that no mechanical inspection report was obtained in writing from the mechanical inspector. Thus, no evidence of recovery of dumper truck with fake number plate or changed body paint was adduced by the prosecution.
29.Surprisingly, no public person was found by the raiding team for the entire duration it stayed at the spot of recovery and arrest. PW1 HC Satbir Singh deposed that all the documents related to this case were prepared in police station; not even a single document was prepared by IO in Mewat area from FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 13/15 where the accused were apprehended. He deposed that the IO did not give any information to any person regarding apprehension or arrest of accused Jakir and Saddam. His testimony is in sharp contrast to the testimony of PW10 IO SI Pankaj Kumar, who deposed that seizure memos of country made pistol and live cartridge recovered from the accused persons were prepared while sitting under the tree at the spot of recovery. PW10 stated that signature of father of the accused was taken on the arrest memo at Maniya Ka Baas itself, which is not corroborated by any witness.
30.On appreciation of testimonies of prosecution witnesses, it is apparent that no prosecution witness is corroborating the deposition of the other; every witness gave materially different version of proceedings conducted by the raiding team, leading to reasonable suspicion surrounding the arrest of accused Jakir and Saddam and recovery of prohibited weapon and dumper truck from them. Neither the identity of accused persons as the offenders has been established nor recovery of robbed dumper truck and prohibited weapon from accused Jakir and Saddam, whereas, there was no recovery of any incriminating evidence from accused Asgar and Akhtar. There is no evidence that accused Asgar and Akhtar deliberately absconded or avoided to appear before the Court or had the knowledge that proclamation U/s. 82 CrPC had been issued by Court for their appearance as accused in the present case.
31.In view of contradiction in the testimonies of witnesses on material points and absence of clear and cogent evidence, the accused persons are entitled to benefit of doubt. Consequently, all the accused persons are acquitted of the offences charged against them.
FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 14/1532.File be consigned to record room after completion of all necessary formalities Announced in the open court dated 27th January, 2020 (VISHAL SINGH) ASJ03, WEST/DELHI FIR No. 185/2012 PS Punjabi Bagh St. Vs. Mohd. Jakir & Ors. Page 15/15