An Uttarakhand court recently acquitted former journalist and activist Prashant Rahi accused of being a Maoist, fourteen years after he was arrested [State of Uttarakhand v. Prashant Sanglikar]..Judge Prem Singh Khimal of the Udham Singh Nagar Sessions Court, after examining the records, found that the prosecution was unable to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt..Rahi and three others were charged under Sections 121 (Waging war against the State), 121A, 124A (Sedition), 153B (assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 20 [being member of terrorist gang] of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)..The Court acquitted the accused after the three witnesses produced before the judge were unable to support the prosecution’s case as there were major inconsistencies in their testimonies.The decision was also based on the contradictions in the evidence. The judge pointed out that though the police stated that there was banned literature recovered from the accused, however, they were unable to show that the same was actually on the banned list..The police had also relied on a compact disc (CD) that had materials being used to plan the escape of alleged Maoists from the Haridwar jail, but by the time the CD was brought into custody, the two were already out on bail.In fact, several procedural loopholes were identified by the judge such as the police’s failure to conduct a test identification parade and a lack of permission from the Central government to prosecute the accused under the UAPA..Based on these inconsistencies, amongst others, the Court did not find any merit in the charges and acquitted the four accused..[Read Order]
