Thane court acquits six men booked under MCOCA for extortion, assault

A Thane court acquitted six persons including a former corporator who were 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 news agency PTI reportedThe special court hearing MCOCA cases in Thane district delivered the judgment on Wednesday giving the accused a benefit of doubt for the above reasons as well as for unreliable testimonies of witnesses reported PTIIn 2022 a first information report FIR was registered at the Mahatma Phule Chowk Police Station in Kalyan The accused were booked for extortion attempted murder and involvement in an organised crime syndicateThe accused have been identified as Satej alias Bala Suresh Pokal 30 former Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation corporator and construction contractor Sachin Samsan Khema 44 Nitin Samsan Khema 41 agriculturist Prem Haribhau Chaudhari 33 Tohit alias Bablu Majid Shaikh 24 and construction supervisor Ganesh Vilas Rokade 29 PTI reportedAdvocates Poonit Mahimkar and Saghar Kolhe representing the accused vehemently contested the prosecutions charges and raised questions over the investigationIn January 2022 the accused had allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh from the complainant to allow him to operate his business and threatened him with dire consequences if he failed to do soThe prosecution claimed that the accused assaulted the complainant and his friends with weapons leading to serious injuriesHowever Special MCOCA Court Judge Amit M Shete there were several significant shortcomings in the prosecutions caseAccording to PTI the judge highlighted the substantial delay in sending crucial seized articles to the Forensic Science Laboratory FSLThe court observed that the seized articles were forwarded to FSL almost three months after their seizure raising the possibility of tampering This delay severely undermines the prosecutions versionThe judge also noted that the prosecutions witnesses including the complainant and injured parties failed to provide consistent accountsThe 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 saidThe court found the chargesheets submitted by the prosecution from previous cases against the accused to establish their involvement in organised crime insufficientThe 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 saidThe court addressed the confessional statement of one accused Satej Pokal which was not retracted PTI statedThough 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 saidConsidering the lack of direct evidence procedural lapses and unreliable testimonies the court granted the accused the benefit of doubt reported PTIOn 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 saidWith inputs from PTI