Reframe charges against all 18 accused: HC

Mumbai, July 17 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today observed that the designated Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in Pune, conducting trial in the fake stamp paper scam, had not ''applied its mind'' while framing charges against accused in the Bundgarden police station case and asked it to reframe charges against the 18 accused against whom the trial was to be conducted.

The direction came in response to a petition filed by one of the accused, suspended police sub inspector Dilip Kamath, challenging framing of charges and sought bail in the matter.

A division bench, comprising Justice R M S Khandeparkar and Justice S R Sathe, observed in its order that ''The designated court had not applied its mind while framing charges against accused persons and charges were nothing but mere reproduction of provisions of charged sections.'' The court said the charges were required to be framed based on material on record and in accordance with law. There had to be reference to factual matrix as briefly as possible and same should reveal the involvement of the concerned accused.

In the absence of this procedure being adopted, the High Court asked the designated MCOCA court to suo-motu take up reframing of charges.

During the course of hearing, CBI counsel Raja Thakare admitted that the designated court probably failed to understand the procedure of framing of charges.

Citing Azim Telgi's case as glaring example, against whom section 24 of MCOCA for public servants was applied only because he was a corporator sometime in the past, the CBI counsel pointed out to the court that ''by no streach of imagination secton 24 could be applied against Telgi''.

UNI