Mumbai court acquits 2 suspected thieves found with cutter and keys, says anyone can stand at railway station to catch train

On March 7, two policemen from the Gaondevi police station were on patrol duty around 3 pm when they came across three people standing at Grant Road railway station. The police claimed the three were doing “suspicious activities”, and they approached the men, and one of them managed to flee.

The police then searched the other two men, Suresh Sharma and Sunil Kanojia, and claimed to have found that one of them had a cutter and another a bunch of keys.

During the trial, the court said that to invoke section 401 of the Indian Penal Code that punishes those belonging to a wandering gang of persons for committing thefts, the police had not proved that they belonged to such a gang.

The court said they were not booked in a single case of theft together, but separate offences were filed against them, hence they cannot be said to be from a gang.

On a cutter being found on them, the court said that electricians generally possessed such a cutter to cut wires. “…even if accused no.1 (Sharma) is found in custody of the cutter, there is nothing abnormal in it and the court cannot jump to the conclusion that he was holding or possessing it for the commission of theft only”.

“Similarly, four keys with accused no. 2 (Kanojia) which were seized from his custody. However, four keys can be found with any common man who keeps the keys of the cupboard and door in his pocket,” the court said.

The court also said the accused were arrested at a railway station at around 3 pm. “Grant Road station is a crowded area at 3 pm in peak hours. Therefore, anyone can stand at the station to catch the train. For the sake of argument, if it is assumed that the accused are involved in few cases of theft, even then, standing at railway station is not an offence,” the court said, acquitting the men.