Man accused of making hoax call about Parliament blast acquitted

A man accused of making a hoax call to the police control room 12 years ago that Parliament would be blasted, has been acquitted by a Delhi court on the ground that there were lapses in the investigation which were "serious in nature".

Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain gave benefit of doubt to Daryaganj resident Amit Kumar and concluded that the prosecution was not able to prove the allegations against him beyond reasonable doubt.

The court said that the possibility of "tampering and manipulation" in Kumar's voice sample could not be ruled out.

It said Investigating Officer SI Sanjeev Mandal had admitted that the voice sample of the accused was not taken in his presence and he failed to disclose name of the police official in whose presence the voice sample was recorded.

"Prosecution has further failed to bring on record the memo vide which the alleged voice sample of accused was taken by police. In the absence of such memo and the fact that the witness to recording of voice sample of accused is not examined by the prosecution, the possibility of tampering and manipulation in the voice sample of accused cannot be ruled out.

"The aforementioned lapses in investigation are of serious nature and the same have rendered defence of the accused plausible according benefit of doubt to him. Thus, it is not proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused gave a hoax call to police control room on April 2, 2002 at 01:30 AM, regarding blast at Parliament," the magistrate said.

According to the prosecution, on the wee hours of April 2, 2002, a call was received in the police control room that there would be a blast at Parliament the next day. It said the caller had stated they should call more police personnel and take care of the police head quarter. He had also said he had come from Kashmir and was residing in Delhi in a rented accommodation.

The police official told the court that his staff along with other teams and dog squad had gone to Parliament for searching a bomb but nothing was recovered from there and during investigation, he came to know that the call was made from Amit Kumar's mobile.

The court, however, acquitted Kumar of the offences under Sections 505 IPC (statements conducing public mischief) and 182 IPC (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person).