Delhi court acquits woman for carrying live cartridges at metro station

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS)  A woman who was charged under the Arms Act for allegedly carrying two live cartridges in her bag at Seelampur Metro Station has been acquitted by a Delhi court.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Aashish Gupta presided over the case and stated that the possibility of the accused being falsely implicated could not be ruled out.

According to the prosecution, the two cartridges were discovered in the woman’s bag during a routine security check at the metro station on November 15, 2021.

However, the court found that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, leading to her acquittal of the offense under Section 25 of the Arms Act, which deals with carrying, acquiring, or possessing unlicensed firearms or ammunition.

The court highlighted several discrepancies in the case, including the fact that one of the seized cartridges did not bear the inscription present on the other cartridge.

This raised suspicions of evidence tampering or the possibility that the case property was planted on the accused.

“This raises a possibility of planting of the case property on the accused or tampering with the same while it was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) or at the time of receiving the same from FSL or at FSL,” the court said.

Furthermore, the court expressed concern over the lack of sincere efforts by the police to involve independent public witnesses in the investigation, casting doubt on the fairness of the overall process.

The defense argued that the accused was carrying a backpack and it was plausible that an unidentified person had placed the ammunition in her bag while she was entering the station.

The court accepted this possibility, acknowledging that the prosecution’s case contained significant loopholes that undermined its credibility.

“Be that as it may, the case of the prosecution is found to contain material loopholes which hit at the root of the case and the benefit of any lacuna left in the investigation has to be given to the accused,” the court said.

--IANS
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