State fined for absence of public prosecutor

MUMBAI, JAN 30: The State Government was today directed to pay a sum of Rs 500 each to four accused persons, following the failure of the...

MUMBAI, JAN 30: The State Government was today directed to pay a sum of Rs 500 each to four accused persons, following the failure of the public prosecutor to appear before the court.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate K H Holambe-Patil in his order directed the Collector of Mumbai to pay the sum to Ajmal Tajmal Khan, Shivshankar Gupta, Salim Abdulla Mulla and Bharat Fatwa who were all arrested by the Crime branch for possession of revolvers and arms without a valid license. The magistrate also stated in his order that if the Collector fails to pay the sum, his office would be sealed by the court.

On a previous occasion also, the public prosecutor failed to make an appearance, and the police were warned by the magistrate that if the public prosecutor repeats the action next time, then he would have to compensate the accused.

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In another case, two persons were arrested by the Social Service branch for allegedly betting in the India-Pakistan Test match.

According to the police, Sanjay Kotecha(38)and his brother Hiren(28) were arrested from their flat at Kalbadevi Road, following a raid. Two televisions, three telephones and betting literature were recovered from their flat. The duo were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Usha Iyer who remanded them to judicial custody upto February 12, 1999.