Thane: A court here has acquitted six persons, including a former corporator, booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for allegedly extorting and assaulting a mobile shop owner, citing "lack of evidence" and "procedural lapses" by the prosecution.
The special court hearing MCOCA cases in Thane district delivered the judgement on January 1, giving the accused a "benefit of doubt" for the above reasons as well as for "unreliable testimonies" of witnesses. An FIR in this case was registered in 2022 at the Mahatma Phule Chowk police station in Kalyan in which the accused were booked for extortion, attempted murder and involvement in an organised crime syndicate.
The accused, who have been acquitted are identified as Satej alias Bala Suresh Pokal (30), Sachin Samsan Khema (44), a former corporator of the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation and a construction contractor; Nitin Samsan Khema (41), Prem Haribhau Chaudhari (33), an agriculturist; Tohit alias Bablu Majid Shaikh (24) and Ganesh Vilas Rokade (29), a construction supervisor.
Advocates Poonit Mahimkar and Saghar Kolhe representing the accused vehemently contested the prosecution's charges and raised question marks over the investigation. The complainant in the case alleged that the accused had in January 2022 demanded Rs 5 lakh from him to allow him to operate his business and threatened him with dire consequences if he failed to do so.
The prosecution claimed that the accused assaulted the complainant and his friends with weapons, leading to serious injuries. Special MCOCA court judge Amit M Shete said there were several significant shortcomings in the prosecution's case. The judge highlighted the "substantial delay" in sending crucial seized articles to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
"The seized articles were forwarded to FSL almost three months after their seizure, raising the possibility of tampering. This delay severely undermines the prosecution's version," the court observed. The judge also noted that the prosecution's witnesses, including the complainant and injured parties, failed to provide consistent accounts.
"The informant and injured witnesses failed to stick to their own version and could not assign any specific role to the accused. Their silence on critical aspects casts serious doubt on the credibility of their testimonies," the judge said. The prosecution submitted chargesheets from previous cases against the accused to establish their involvement in organised crime, but the court found that insufficient.
"The burden of proving the alleged offences beyond all reasonable doubt rests on the prosecution. Despite opportunities, they failed to produce key witnesses, including officers who recorded confessional statements," the court said. It also addressed the confessional statement of one accused, Satej Pokal, which was not retracted.
"Though the statement was not retracted, it was not proved in accordance with the law and is insufficient to convict the accused for serious crimes," the judgement said. Considering the "lack of direct evidence, procedural lapses and unreliable testimonies", the court granted the accused the benefit of doubt.
"On the basis of the evidence presented, it is not safe to convict the accused. The prosecution has failed to establish the charges under both the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and MCOCA," the court said.
