MLA acquitted as cops fail to depose

Police are rendered helpless when witnesses turn hostile in a case. What do policemen do when they themselves become witness to a criminal case...

Police are rendered helpless when witnesses turn hostile in a case. What do policemen do when they themselves become witness to a criminal case involving a “powerful” politician. Simple. They don’t turn up to depose in court.

A JD(U) MLA was acquitted in three criminal cases for lack of evidence. The only witness were policemen and they never came for the hearing.

JD(U) MLA Sunil Pandey has a number of criminal cases pending against him and is at present lodged in jail. He landed behind the bars last October and was suspended from

the party after he was charged with extortion from a company engaged in rural electrification in Aurangabad.

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The Nitish Kumar Government had showcased it as an example of its non-interference in court proceedings. However, his acquittal revealed how the law-enforcing agency was helping the MLA.

In one of the cases, the MLA was accused of barging into a police station and threatening Officer-In-Charge R P Sinha with dire consequences for refusing to provide him police security. Sinha had himself lodged an FIR. Charges were framed against the MLA in April 2005 in which six policemen, including the complainant and the Investigating Officer (IO), were witnesses. The court sent summons followed by warrants of arrest but none of the policemen turned up. Finally, last Friday, the court absolved the MLA for lack of evidence.

In another case , the MLA was charged with abusing and assaulting officers deputed to conduct the election of a school chairperson. The FIR was lodged by Labour Officer Siya Ram Singh, a designated Magistrate. Despite summons from the trial court, neither the complainant nor the IO appeared in the court .

Yet another case concerning assault and illegal confinement of a Dalit over a property dispute met the same fate as the IO refrained from turning up in court .

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When contacted, Rohtas SP N H Khan acknowledged the lapse and said he would file a review petition for re-trial in at least one case. “I am personally probing the lapses. Responsibilities would be fixed,” Khan said.

The SP said that apart from the policemen, he is also probing the role of government’s Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Ravindra Prasad, who was handling all the three cases.