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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 45 cases, 41 acquittals: Maharashtra cops want judge probed-Smita Nair

45 cases, 41 acquittals: Maharashtra cops want judge probed-Smita Nair

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published Published on Apr 22, 2012   modified Modified on Apr 22, 2012

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Maharashtra Police has sought the Bombay High Court’s intervention and redressal in the case of a special judge in Kolhapur who has ordered acquittals in 41 of the 45 cases she has presided over since 2007.
 
The ACB is not in agreement with 31 of those 41 acquittals and has already challenged 27 of them. It has also urged the high court to probe the role of the judge, P D Desai.

However, Desai has claimed that the ACB’s investigations are shoddy, and more than half of her judgments have been upheld by the high court.

The ACB’s letter to the HC, written on February 10, relates to Desai’s term as judge in Satara from 2007 to 2010 and in Kolhapur since then. The details of these judgments, accessed by The Sunday Express under the RTI Act, show that Desai ordered 27 acquittals in Satara where she was the judge for cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act. She also ordered four convictions.

She was moved to Kolhapur in 2010 where she ordered five acquittals that year and another nine acquittals in 2011. Seeking a probe into 31 of these acquittals, the ACB has told the HC that complainants in corruption cases do not want their cases to be tried in Desai’s court for fear of losing.

When contacted, 54-year-old Desai said she was not aware of the ACB’s letter to the HC but knew that “people were upset with the number of acquittals in her court”.

“I do not have all the case details in hand, but more than half of the judgments have been upheld by the high court. The investigation of the ACB is extremely shoddy. The grounds for acquittal have been various, but all point to bad investigation,” she said.

“There have been instances where sanction is taken after the prescribed period; chargesheets are filed after four to five months; contradictions between their complainant, panch-witness and investigating officer; same panch witness has stood before me in more than four cases; usage of glowing powder used to gather proof is used in daylight with no intelligence applied on how to use forensics. They can allege that the number of acquittals is large, but how do they bring such shoddy investigations for trial?” she asked.

The ACB has specifically objected to 27 acquittals in which the court ruled that “no work was pending with the accused at the time of the trap”. ACB sources claimed officials often seek or take bribes through junior colleagues who may not be directly linked to the work that is sought to be done.

The ACB has also raised questions about 14 acquittals where Desai claimed “invalid sanction” for prosecuting the trapped official. The bribes in the cases had allegedly been sought for updating land ownership records and receiving pension payments, among others. The accused ranged from class 1 to class 4 officers in the revenue department, town planning and police.

Besides being the special judge for cases tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Desai is also the District Judge I and Additional Sessions Judge, Kolhapur.

The Indian Express, 22 April, 2012, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/45-cases-41-acquittals-maharashtra-cops-want-judge-probed/939894/


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