Local court upholds validity of clubbed FIR in Delhi riots case

New Delhi: While setting aside an earlier order directing registering of a separate FIR in a case pertaining to the Delhi riots, a Delhi court has noted that the accused have already been investigated and chargesheeted as part of one FIR and there is no need for another one, while also observing that there is a possibility complainants giving "untrue", "exaggerated" and "motivated accounts".

While making these observations, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav has also stated in his order that it was apparent that IPC sections 397 (Robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and section 307 (Attempt to murder) should have been invoked in the matter.

"This Court is not aware as to whether the said sections have been invoked against the accused persons in the chargesheet or not," ASJ Yadav said, adding that it was also not clear as to whether on the complaint dated July 25, "which discloses a completely different cause of action", whether an FIR has been registered or not; "however, both the aforesaid actions are liable to be taken by the police in the mater".

As per case records, the matter pertains to one Mohammad Salman, represented by Advocate MR Shamshad, whose house in West Karawal Nagar was looted, vandalised and the items inside it were set on fire by a mob on February 25 last year. In addition to this, the mob also attempted to kill his family of three following which they fled the house and took shelter on the roof of their building.

Salman had also named four persons in his complaint to police on March 18, naming four persons, Anil Byaji, Deepak, Yogesh Negi, Sandeep and Balkishan. However, Salman's complaint was tagged with another complaint, that of one Satya Narayan Dubey, whose house situated nearby was vandalised by a mob on the same day.

In addition to pleading that his complaint with far more serious allegations should be made into a separate FIR, Salman also claimed that his subsequent complaint of July 25 wherein he alleged facing threats from the accused also went unheeded.

After a court ruled in favour of Salman to file a separate FIR, police had filed a revision petition challenging the order. Hence, while setting aside the earlier order, ASJ Yadav noted that since the accused persons have already been investigated and chargesheeted in Dubey's complaint, there is no need to file another FIR. However, while Dubey's case is that of vandalism, the court noted that the police is liable to invoke section 397 and 307 of IPC in Salman's complaint.

Millennium Post had earlier this year reported Salman's case and that of many others like him, for whom clubbed FIRs have become a massive roadblock on the path to justice, as part of an investigative series on Delhi riots.