Soni Satti
A Metropolitan Court ordered the Director-General of police and the city police Commissioner to provide training to cops on how to investigate Passport Act violations committed on international soil.
B H Ghasura, an additional Metropolitan judge, criticised the investigating officer for obstructing the inquiry process. Due to the unfinished investigation, an accused was acquitted, with the Court granting him the benefit of the doubt.
Altaf Hussain Vajifdar of Surat district was involved in the case. He was apprehended at Doha Airport on suspicion of using a fabricated Italian passport on his way to the UK.
He was deported, and in December 2013, the in-charge immigration officer at SVP International Airport filed a police report with the Sardarnagar police station.
A case was filed for cheating and forgery under IPC sections, as well as the Foreigners (Amendment) Act and the Indian Passport Act.
Since the required trial sanction under Section 188 of the CrPC had not been received by Sardarnagar police, the Court discharged Vajifdar under the Passport Act in 2017. Since the alleged crime was committed outside of India, the sanction is necessary. A session Court denied the government’s appeal against the discharge the next year.
The accused was put on trial for the remaining offences, but the Court acquitted him due to a lack of witnesses, granting him the benefit of the doubt.
As per the Court, the facts might have been collected if the investigating officer had directed the investigation in the right way. Even though it was necessary, the investigation officer did not seek trial permission under Section 188 of the CrPC.
Furthermore, the Court believes that under the terms of Section 189 of the CrPC, the investigation officer should have taken the facts on record from Italy at the Centre’s request.
However, the Court found no proof of such initiative in the evidence on file. The investigation officer was harshly chastised by the Court for his carelessness and incompetence.
When the offence was under Section 15 of the Passport Act, the Court noted that he claimed to be aware of the proceedings under Sections 188 and 189 of the CrPC.
The Court stated, “However, he purposefully pursued an unreliable investigation to help the accused,”
The Court requested that a copy of the order be submitted to the DGP and the city police chief, requesting that they train their subordinate officers on how to perform investigations into such crimes.