Silda: Court rejects charges under UAPA

In a setback to the West Bengal government,the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Jhargram on Monday refused to accept the portion of the chargesheet filed by the CID on Maoist attack in Silda in which the CID invoked the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against 24 persons,including top Maoist leader Kishenji. Rejecting the charges,judge M D Rezza said application for invoking the UAPA required the state governments sanction and the CID did not obtain it.

Kausik Sinha,counsel for the accused,said the CID filed the chargesheet under various sections of the IPC,Arms Act and Explosives Substance Act as well as the UAPA.

It is mandatory for the investigating agency to take sanction from the state government for application of the UAPA. The court refused to accept the charges under the UAPA as the chargesheet was placed without the sanction of the state government, Sinha said.