Mumbai: A sessions court has acquitted a man accused of a 1992 dacoity case, even though he continues to be absconding, noting that under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), a trial can proceed in the absence of a proclaimed offender if he is represented by a lawyer.
The accused, Rajendra Giri, a resident of Sakinaka, was booked for allegedly being part of a gang that robbed a businessman and his family at gunpoint at their Andheri residence on March 31, 1992. According to the prosecution, the complainant had returned home for lunch and was resting when the accused knocked on the door around 2.45pm. After the door was opened, the gang barged in, threatened the complainant and his wife with a gun, disconnected the phone line and began searching the house for valuables.
The complainant and his wife were tied to chairs, cloth was stuffed into their mouths and their four-year-old son was locked inside a bathroom. The gang allegedly decamped with ornaments and other valuables worth Rs3.80 lakh. The complainant later freed himself using a paper cutter and, with the help of his brother, lodged a complaint at the DN Nagar police station.
Giri was arrested in 1992 and released on bail a few months later but failed to appear before the court thereafter and was declared an absconder. The trial against the remaining accused was conducted earlier, and all were acquitted due to lack of evidence, with their identities not being established.
Nearly 33 years later, the sessions court conducted Giri’s trial under Section 356 of the BNSS, which permits trial in absentia of a proclaimed offender if there is no immediate prospect of arrest and the accused is defended by a competent lawyer.
Sessions Judge Satyanarayan R Navander noted that charges had already been framed against Giri and there was no legal hurdle in proceeding with the trial. An advocate from the district legal services authority panel was appointed to represent him.
The prosecution relied on the testimonies of 15 witnesses recorded during the earlier trial of the co-accused. After examining the evidence, the court found no cogent material linking Giri to the crime and acquitted him.
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