Court acquits man accused of making hoax bomb threat against ex-PM Manmohan Singh

A man accused of making a hoax call to police claiming a bomb threat to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Independence Day in 2005 has been acquitted.

As the prosecution could not establish that he made a hoax call, the court found the accused Mahesh not guilty. He was charged with the offences under sections 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) of the Indian Penal Code, PTI reported.

"...The prosecution has not been able to establish beyond reasonable doubt that accused Mahesh has committed offences under sections 182 and 507 of the IPC and is found not guilty in the present case...," the news agency quoted the magistrate as saying in the judgement passed last week.

He said the prime witness in the case, the PCO/STD booth owner Lalit Ahmed, was "unsettled" during his cross-examination and stated that he was not present in his PCO when the call was made.

"Since prosecution witness 2 (Ahmed) was not present at the time when the call was made, anything deposed by him would be in the nature of hearsay and hence, not admissible.

"Accordingly, the prosecution has failed to prove the offence punishable under section 182 of the IPC," the magistrate said. The court said the evidence brought on record was insufficient to link the accused to the commission of the crime and the prosecution had failed to establish the identity of the accused as the person who had made the false call to the police.

Mahesh had called police emergency number 100 from a public booth and gave "false information" to the cops in July 19, 2005. He had claimed in his call that there was a bomb threat to the PM during the Independence Day. An FIR was filed and charges were framed against Mahesh at New Usmanpur police station in 2010.

The New Usmanpur police station subsequently registered the FIR and charges were framed against Mahesh in December 2010.

"The prosecution has failed to establish that accused Mahesh was the person making the call from the PCO shop of PW2 and therefore, in the absence of identification of accused, the offence punishable under section 507 of the IPC is not proved," it said.