CHANDIGARH: Of the 90 cases filed under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act in Chandigarh since January 1991 not a single one has been used for conviction of the accused so far in all the 46 cases that were decided the accused were acquitted.
Almost all the accused were acquitted because the police could not produce evidence in no case did the administration file an appeal against the acquittal.
Chandigarh had two designated courts to deal with TADA cases until March 31. These were presided by J.S.Sidhu and M.S. Lubana. The latter was promoted as District and Sessions Judge at Hoshiarpur recently.
As against 56 cases of TADA filed in the court of Lubana about 30 were disposed of during 1991 all ending in acquittal of the accused for want of prosecution evidence The situation was no different in the designated court of Sidhu.
The prosecution did not Challenge the verdict even in a single case but it did try to re-arrest the accused immediately after their acquittal on many occasions
“There have been instances when the acquitted persons climbed the fence in the rear of the courts premises or put on disguises to escape re-arrest by the police waiting outside.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 26, 1992
