IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Sudhir Kumar Jain, J.
Krishan Pawdia - Appellant
Versus
State, NCT of Delhi - Respondent
W.P.(Crl.) 1236 of 2022
Decided On : 03-06-2022
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. petition details and investigation overview. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. trial court's dismissal of petitioner's application. (Para 3) |
| 3. arguments regarding false implication and evidence preservation. (Para 4 , 5) |
| 4. application of co-accused and its dismissal. (Para 6) |
| 5. need for confidentiality in specialized investigations. (Para 7) |
| 6. final dismissal of the petition. (Para 8) |
JUDGMENT
1. The present petition is filed under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (herein after referred as Cr.P.C.) for giving directions to the investigating agency/I.O./SHO for supplying contact numbers of the members of the raiding party and the location chart of the mobile of the members of the raiding party in FIR no. 0489/2021, P.S. Baba Haridas Nagar and also giving directions to the investigating agency/I.O./SHO to conduct fair investigation. The petitioner made the following prayers:
In view of the above-mentioned facts, circumstances and submissions, it Is, therefore, respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble court may kindly be pleased to pass an order/s directing the IO/SHO/investigation agency with the direction/s:
A)- To provide the correct details with regards to all mobile contact number/s of the members of raiding party, as stated in the above alleged case/FIR No.0489/2021, of police, which they were using from: 08/10/2021 to 10/10/2021.
B)- To preserve and supply a set of the location chart of all those mobile/contact numbers of the above-mentioned officials of raiding party, to the petitioner/applicant, and of the mobile contact No's of the applicant/petitioner and all other co-accused person for the period of 08/10/2021 to 10/10/2021 in the interest of justice and for the sake of brevity.
2. As per the investigation, a secret information was received by S.I. Saroj Singh on 08.10.2021 at about 11:30 PM, that three persons would be coming from Orissa in a Eicher Truck bearing registration no. 2945 carrying illegal ganja for delivering to a person near Najafgarh, Anaj Mandi on 09.10.2021 at about 3:00 AM to 4:00 AM. Thereafter, a raiding party comprising ASI Randhir No. 311/DW, HC Jitender No. 195/DW, HC Sonu No. 1684 DW, Constable Parvinder No. 1196/DW and Ct. Rajbir No. 1645/DW under supervision of inspector AATS, Dwarka District was prepared and during raid three persons, namely, Krishna Pawardia i.e., the petitioner, Aman and Rakesh Dahiya were apprehended. FIR bearing no. 0489/2022 dated 09.10.2021 was got registered at Baba Haridas Nagar under sections 20/25 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The charge sheet is already filed and trial is pending.
3. The petitioner during the trial filed an application under section 91 Cr.P.C. in SC no. 245/2022 titled as State v. Rakesh and Ors., arising out of the FIR no. 0489/2021 registered at Baba Haridas Nagar. The trial court vide order dated 04.05.2022 has dismissed the application. It was observed that a similar type of application was filed by co-accused Rakesh Dahiya who was represented by same counsel and was dismissed as withdrawn on 28.10.2021. It was also observed that the accused Rakesh Dahiya again filed a similar application which was disposed of by the concerned trial court on 18.01.2022 and against order dated 18.01.2022, a writ petition bearing no. WP(CRL) 215/2022 titled as Rakesh Dahiya v. State of NCT, Delhi was filed, which was ordered to be dismissed as withdrawn vide order dated 01.02.2022 passed by another Bench of this Court. The application under section 91 Cr.P.C. filed by the petitioner was dismissed vide order dated 04.05.2022.
4. The counsel for the petitioner argued that the petitioner was falsely implicated in the present case by the investigating agency and was not arrested in the manner as alleged in the FIR. The entire prosecution case is planted and concocted. The contents mentioned in the Final Report under section 173 Cr.P.C. regarding the recovery of cont
AI
The preservation of evidence by the raiding party is unnecessary due to operational security concerns once an investigation is complete.
The necessity to preserve electronic evidence for establishing innocence can outweigh privacy concerns of investigative officials.
The court affirmed the necessity of preserving electronic records to ensure a fair trial, balancing privacy rights against the accused's right to access evidence.
The court ruled that telecom operators must maintain call records for two years, allowing the accused to access evidence through the court under Section 91 Cr.P.C.
The accused does not have the right to invoke Sec. 91 of the CrPC for document production at the stage of framing charges; such rights are reserved for the defense stage of the trial.
The duty of the court to collect evidence for the defense and the necessity of summoning call details for establishing innocence and ensuring fair trial.
The court established that under Section 91 Cr.P.C., the accused has the right to summon evidence essential for their defense, reinforcing the principle of a fair trial.
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