State may lose face in Afroz case

But after vaunting the arrest of an Al Qaeda man, the Congress-led Democratic Front government was forced to drop the charges under POTA as there was no adequate evidence against him. And in view of the poor response from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, even the charge under Section 121 might be dropped.

The Maharashtra government has to wait for the Centre’s nod before launching criminal proceedings against Afroz, as Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code makes it mandatory for the state government to obtain the Centre’s permission before beginning criminal proceedings under Section 121.

The accused can be sentenced to death or life term if the offence is proved under Section 121. ‘‘We are facing a piquant situation, since for the past seven months, there is no positive response from the Centre. Besides, submitting a comprehensive statement on the Afroz case, we have immediately responded to all the doubts raised by the Centre, but so far, it has not given the sanction required under the Criminal Procedure Code. Under such circumstances, we will not be surprised if Afroz is discharged from the case on technical grounds,’’ a senior Home Department official says.

The state government had formed two high-level teams comprising Police Commissioner M.N. Singh and the then Joint Commissioner of Police B. S. Mohite after Afroz made ‘‘sensational’’ disclosures, particularly on the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Parliament.