JAIPUR: It took 32 years for the six accused individuals within the Ajmer blackmail and rape case to be sentenced to life in jail on Tuesday as a result of every time an accused within the notorious case surrendered or was arrested, trial was suspended and proceedings needed to start from scratch. The rationale: Defence attorneys demanded their proper to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
“Nafees Chisty and Naseem Chisty, alias Tarzan, had been arrested in 2003.Iqbal Bhati was arrested in 2005, Saleem Chisty and Jameer Husain in 2012, and Sohail Gani in 2018,” mentioned extra director, prosecution, Virendra Singh Rathore.
The staggered arrests meant the trial in opposition to Nafees and Naseem, which started in 2003, was halted when Bhati was arrested in 2005. All witnesses who testified for the accused arrested in 2003 additionally needed to be recalled for cross-examination. Within the interim, one accused approached the HC, resulting in information being despatched for examination and delaying the trial additional.
This was not the one time that delayed justice for the blackmail and rape survivors. Shortly after resumption of trial, Saleem Chisty and Jameer Husain had been arrested in 2012. This resulted within the trial in opposition to the three already arrested to be suspended as soon as once more. This time Saleem and Jameer demanded their proper to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
It was the identical story in 2018. Sohail Gani’s arrest hit the pause button on the trial as soon as once more. In the intervening time, extra accused acquired bail as trials had been suspended and one rape survivor after one other started turning hostile.
“Police recorded the statements of over 30 rape survivors, however most turned hostile. Conviction was primarily based on the testimonies of solely three survivors,” Rathore mentioned.
The trial in opposition to all accused individuals lastly started in 2018, and by 2020, when Rathore was appointed, his largest problem was to persuade survivors, now settled in numerous elements of the nation, to answer summons and testify.
With 18 accused concerned within the case, 12 had been awarded life sentences by a trial court docket in 1998; this sentence was commuted to 12 years in jail by the Rajasthan HC. In 2001, no progress within the trial led even to the acquittal of 4 accused. When the matter went to SC in 2001, the court docket additional decreased their sentences to 10 years. Within the interim, whereas one accused dedicated suicide, one other escaped whereas on parole.
“Nafees Chisty and Naseem Chisty, alias Tarzan, had been arrested in 2003.Iqbal Bhati was arrested in 2005, Saleem Chisty and Jameer Husain in 2012, and Sohail Gani in 2018,” mentioned extra director, prosecution, Virendra Singh Rathore.
The staggered arrests meant the trial in opposition to Nafees and Naseem, which started in 2003, was halted when Bhati was arrested in 2005. All witnesses who testified for the accused arrested in 2003 additionally needed to be recalled for cross-examination. Within the interim, one accused approached the HC, resulting in information being despatched for examination and delaying the trial additional.
This was not the one time that delayed justice for the blackmail and rape survivors. Shortly after resumption of trial, Saleem Chisty and Jameer Husain had been arrested in 2012. This resulted within the trial in opposition to the three already arrested to be suspended as soon as once more. This time Saleem and Jameer demanded their proper to cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
It was the identical story in 2018. Sohail Gani’s arrest hit the pause button on the trial as soon as once more. In the intervening time, extra accused acquired bail as trials had been suspended and one rape survivor after one other started turning hostile.
“Police recorded the statements of over 30 rape survivors, however most turned hostile. Conviction was primarily based on the testimonies of solely three survivors,” Rathore mentioned.
The trial in opposition to all accused individuals lastly started in 2018, and by 2020, when Rathore was appointed, his largest problem was to persuade survivors, now settled in numerous elements of the nation, to answer summons and testify.
With 18 accused concerned within the case, 12 had been awarded life sentences by a trial court docket in 1998; this sentence was commuted to 12 years in jail by the Rajasthan HC. In 2001, no progress within the trial led even to the acquittal of 4 accused. When the matter went to SC in 2001, the court docket additional decreased their sentences to 10 years. Within the interim, whereas one accused dedicated suicide, one other escaped whereas on parole.
