New Delhi, May 01: On the basis of prima facie evidence against the underworld don Abu Salem, a Delhi Court has today framed charges under rigid provisions of MCOCA.
The court has framed the charges against the gangster in connection to an extortion case.
The Additional Session Judge Pinki said that Delhi police has provided adequate stuff for prosecuting him in the case.
The court fixed May 17 for prosecution evidence.
Salem, extradited from Portugal in 2005, had contended before the court that he could not be tried under stringent anti-organised crime law MCOCA as it would be violative of his
extradition conditions, a plea rejected by the court.
The framing of charges under the law dealing with organised crime against Salem assumes importance as earlier the Delhi Government had pleaded for dropping MCOCA against
the gangster in the “interest of public policy”.
The plea of Delhi Government was dismissed by the court saying “keeping in view as many as 65 involvements and the cases/nature of cases in which Salem has been extradited, it
cannot be said that it is in the interest of public policy or that the application has been moved in good faith.”
Other accused in the case Pawan Kumar Mittal and Mohd Ashraf had already been committed for trial in the case and the case against another co-accused Sajjan Kumar Soni stand
abated as he is dead.
Counsel for Salem had relied on different missives sent by Indian authorities, including a letter written by a CBI joint director, to buttress his point that invoking a special
Act like MCOCA was also against a direction by the Supreme Court of Justice of Portugal.
However, the court rejected his plea saying all the offences in detail were in the knowledge of the courts in Portugal.
No new offence had been added in the FIRs or chargesheets pending when the accused was detained in Portugal and finally extradited.
Salem was booked under MCOCA and other provisions of IPC for allegedly making extortion calls to Delhi-based businessman Ashok Gupta, demanding Rs five crore as “protection money”.
—Agencies