HC dismisses Delhi man's plea against sanction to prosecute him under MCOCA
Dec 21, 2020
New Delhi [India], December 21 : The Delhi High Court has dismissed a man's plea challenging sanction to prosecute him under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) observing that he was part of a crime syndicate, which was allegedly involved in extortion charges in 27 criminal cases.
A single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh dismissed the plea filed by Vijay Mann alias Kapil under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking quashing of the sanction given for prosecution of him, under the MCOC Act.
"More than 27 cases are pending against the syndicate of which the petitioner is stated to be a part. In any event, approximately 19 cases have already been mentioned in the proposal which forms the basis of the sanction challenged in the case. In the opinion of this court, the said 19 cases pending against the syndicate coupled with the fact that there was sufficient material for the Special Cell authorities to grant sanction in the form of statements recorded, clearly shows that the ingredients to proceed under the Act were satisfied," the bench said.
Noting that sanction has been granted in accordance with the law in the matter, the bench in its December 18 order dismissed the plea saying there is no merit in the present petition.
In a status report filed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, it was submitted that Mann is a part of the organized crime syndicate which is headed by Jitender and Gogi.
The syndicate was extorting money from various liquor vendors, the police said adding that the petitioner was arrested on November 13, 2018, when the police intercepted him while he was on way along with other members of his gang to commit a crime against one of the liquor shops vendors. There are several FIRs against this particular syndicate.
The police submitted there are more than 27 FIRs which are registered in Delhi and in the neighbouring areas against this syndicate and thus multiple FIRs as per the Act is not required only against an individual but against a syndicate as a whole. Police relied upon the statements of the co-accused, who it said specifically named the petitioner as being part of the group.
Mann, on the other hand, submitted that an FIR was lodged against the petitioner, on May 25, 2018, under sections 3 and 4 of the Act. Advocate Akhand Pratap Singh, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that on the date when the FIR under the Act was registered, there was only one other FIR which had been lodged against the petitioner, and added that the two other FIRs were used against him to justify the grant of sanction to prosecute him.
"However, in one of the FIR, the petitioner stood acquitted," Singh said submitting that the requirements needed under the sections to prosecute the petitioner were not fulfilled.
According to the police, one Jitender alias Gogi formed an organized crime syndicate in the area of Alipur village in Delhi and has a dedicated team of members who are involved in offenses that are committed by the entire syndicate.
Jitender was arrested in March 2016 with a huge recovery of sophisticated weapons from his possession but later forcefully released from police custody in Bahadurgarh in Haryana and still absconding, police submitted.
