Hoods on accused in court very unusual

[1]

Jayant V. Narlikar [1]

The police has managed to nab all the five men involved in the gangrape of the photojournalist; however, despite their photographs already having been circulated in the media, the police didn’t remove the hoods of the two “accused” produced before the magistrate court on Sunday.
Adding weight to this point is that the photo of one of the two accused, Mohammad Kasim Bangali, whom the police “arrested and produced” before the court on Sunday, has been circulated widely both in print and online media.
According to legal experts, the practice of covering faces should take place only when unknown persons are being taken for an identification parade so that only the witness or victim is able to identify the real offenders.
However, even the magistrate didn’t ask for the hoods to be removed.
Judge S.A. Upadhye called out the two names — Siraj Rehmat Khan alias Sirju and Kasim Bangali, and asked the duo whether they had any complaints against the police, to which one of the accused said “no”. All this happened with their faces covered.
Bombay high court Justice R.D. Dhanuka (retired) told this newspaper, “It cannot happen. The magistrate can’t not ask them to remove the hoods. Probably, the police didn’t have sufficient paperwork, but the general practice is that the hoods are removed.”
Eminent criminal lawyer Majid Memon said, “The general practice is to remove the hoods before the magistrate and the accused is then asked whether he has any complaints against the police. However, if the magistrate is satisfied, he may not ask them to be removed. Yet, I don’t see any point in covering their faces when the photo has already been flashed in newspapers.”