Delhi Court finds AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal guilty of abetment of suicide

A Court in Delhi on Wednesday found Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Prakash Jarwal and his aide Kapil Nagar guilty of abetting the suicide of 52-year-old Dr. Rajendra Singh, who owned water tankers that were used by the Delhi Jal Board..The two men were also found guilty of being part of a criminal conspiracy to extort money from water tanker owners in the national capital.Additional Sessions Judge MK Nagpal concluded that Jarwal and Nagar were “continuously and consistently” making demands for extortion of different amounts of money from the victim.The duo was held to have acted to create tremendous pressure upon the victim’s mind, which was depicted in around 40 statements authored by the victim, the Court found. .The prosecution's case was that the accused would threaten the victim and other water tanker owners for payment of monthly extortion amounts. It was also alleged that money was demanded from water tanker owners as “election expenses” at the time of the assembly polls in 2020.The threats pertained to the payment of money in connection with the running or plying of the water tankers with the Delhi Jal Board. In particular, the allegation against Jarwal was that he had used his influence as an MLA and a member of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to remove Singh’s tankers from the DJB and to stop his pending payments..The Court found Jarwal and Nagar guilty of abetment of suicide under Section 306 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) despite most of the witnesses, including the victim’s wife and son, turning hostile. Judge Nagar opined that the same was apparently “due to the fear of the accused persons and their other associates.”.The Court rejected the defence's argument that Singh was suffering from certain physical and mental conditions. The Court said no such serious physical or mental ailment could be inferred from the evidence on record.“Though it has been stated in court by some witnesses that the deceased was a sugar and heart patient and a stent was also earlier implanted for his heart ailment, but these facts by themselves cannot be taken as a reason behind commission of suicide by deceased as it is very common to have one or the other ailment these days even in young age…,” it added.The Court also opined that though the mental state of a person who takes the extreme step of suicide would certainly be weaker as compared to a normal person, it does not mean that a person commits suicide only because of a weak mental state..The Court also found that the charge of criminal conspiracy for extortion under Section 386 of the IPC stood proved against the accused, based on dying declarations left by the deceased as well as the other corroborative evidence.However, on the charge of actual extortion, the Court concluded that there was sufficient evidence only to prove that an attempt had been made to commit the offences.“It is so because the evidence on record duly shows that both these accused had intentionally put the deceased in fear of his death or of the death of his family members by extending threats for payment of different amounts of money…,” the order states..The Court further opined that the prosecution had failed to prove the payment of extortion amounts by the deceased and other water tankers to the accused, particularly since most of the witnesses had turned hostile.“In the absence of there being any independent or corroborative evidence showing the transfer or payment of these amounts by deceased or the other water tanker owners to any of the above two accused or even to their associates on their behalf, the evidence led on record in support of these charges can be held deficient and insufficient for proving the said charges," the Court concluded..However, it also opined that even in the absence of any corroborative or independent evidence showing proof of payments of extortion money as stated in dying declarations, the prosecution can be said to have successfully proved the charge of attempts to commit the offence of extortion..It also found sufficient evidence for proving the charge of criminal conspiracy for criminal intimidation under the second part of Section 506 of the IPC. Having found Jarwal and Nagar guilty of the offences, before deciding the punishment and the amount of compensation to be paid to the victim’s family, the Court directed the convicts to file their affidavits disclosing their assets and income..The direction was passed in accordance with a Delhi High Court judgement that also requires the prosecution to file an affidavit regarding the expenses incurred on the prosecution of the case.The matter will be heard next on March 13..[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.