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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed for technical reasons a private complaint which had triggered MCOCA proceedings against Mumbai policeman Daya Nayak,ending a six-year-long judicial effort to prove the encounter specialists links to organised crime syndicates.
The order by a bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and T S Thakur will stop a Mumbai Special Court from trying Nayak under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Activities (MCOCA) Act on a complaint filed by Mumbai-based resident Ketan Tirodkar.
The Supreme Court said that a prior sanction was not received from the Mumbai Police chief before proceeding on the private complaint. This sanction is a mandatory pre-condition under the MCOCA law,the bench said.
The decision comes after Nayak appealed to the apex court against a Bombay High Court decision in August 2007,upholding the Special Courts finding that there was enough prima facie evidence to charge Nayak under the MCOCA. The MCOCA court arrayed Nayak as the main accused and let him share space with gangster Chhota Shakeel and aide Fahim Mach Mach.
