Arguments conclude in Gulshan case

Senior defence counsel Majeed Memon urged the court to derecognise the first information report (FIR), pass strictures against investigating officer for conducting illegal test identification parade of the accused and take into account the failure of witnesses to assign roles to the alleged assassins of Gulshan Kumar.

Summing up arguments, Memon said inspector Rashmi Jadhav in cross-examination had admitted that she had received a message on telephone about the shoot-out in which Gulshan Kumar was killed. The message was also recorded by her.

In accordance with section 154 of CrPC, this message should have been treated as FIR and not the one which was separately recorded by her, Memon pointed out.

It was not necessary that the message should give the description of the victim or the assailants or any other details of the incident. It was enough if the offence was disclosed in the message, the lawyer said.

Public prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam, however, replied that the message was not considered as FIR because it was cryptic and vague. The Defence lawyer urged the court to use its judicial conscience and pass strictures against investigating officer Arjun Bagadi who had procured the services of former Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) to conduct identification parade in the jail where assailants of Gulshan Kumar were lodged.

As per law only a sitting SEM was authorised to conduct the parade. Yet the investigating officer sought the services of a former SEM knowing fully well that he was not authorised to do so, Defence lawyer said adding that the parade was thus vitiated.

Prosecutor Nikam replied that the officer had tried his best to obtain the services of an SEM but at the relevant time no one was available as the SEMs had gone to Gujarat to help in quake relief measures. Hence he took help of a former SEM.

The Defence lawyer pointed out that the witnesses had failed to assign roles to the assailants of Gulshan Kumar. In the absence of such description, their identification was of no use to the prosecution.