A city court ticked off the Delhi police for declaring a listed private firm as “not traceable” dropping “whimsically” its officials from the list of witnesses in adjudicating a complaint of cheating filed by it.
Terming as “mockery” the prosecution’s decision to declare Vogue Textiles Ltd (VTL), a company listed with Bombay Stock Exchange, as untraceable, district judge R.K. Gauba said by dropping the names of firm’s officials, the trial against the cheating case accused was prejudiced.
The court rebuked the police while setting aside the magisterial court’s order sentencing the cheating case accused to two years in jail and ordered his retrial.
“It would be a mockery if a public limited company, which seems to be pressing its remedies in a civil court, is treated as not traceable in the criminal court on the basis of half hearted attempts of police officials low in the pecking order of hierarchy,” the judge said.
“In my considered view, the trial has been unduly short...This has resulted in appellant (accused) being seriously prejudiced,” he said. On a complaint filed by the firm, the magistrate had held Delhi-resident Baldev Raj guilty of cheating VTL by receiving goods worth `10.46 lakh from it in name of fictitious firms and not paying it the money.
The judge noted that three VTL officials, including the complainant, were named as witnesses in the chargesheet filed by the police but were not examined during trial.