A Delhi court has acquitted Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker Rakhi Bidlan in a case of allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct during the last Lok Sabha elections as one of the two Delhi Police personnel turned hostile during the trial.
The complaint lodged by Prasanta Verma of the BJP legal cell said, Ms. Bidlan had violated the model code by entering in a polling station wearing a cap with AAP’s slogan “Main Hun Aam Aadmi, Mujhe Chahiya Swaraj” written on it to cast her vote at Mangolpuri in north-west Delhi.
By wearing the cap with the slogan written on it, the AAP leader displayed a sign relating to the election as the cap was a symbol of the Aam Aadmi Party, the prosecution alleged.
Countering the prosecution arguments, counsel for Ms. Bidlan, Rishi Pal, said that her party symbol is broom, not the cap.
Further, the photographs of Ms. Bidlan entering the polling station and relied upon by the prosecution were taken from a mobile phone, but these photographs were not supported with a certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act nor the mobile phone was subjected to forensic scrutiny to establish its authenticity.
Acquitting Ms. Bidlan, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said, “The cap which the accused was wearing was not containing the symbol of her party and, therefore, will not come within the prohibition of Section 130 [1] [e] of Representation of People Act, 1951”
“Further, one of the prosecution witnesses [police personnel] has said that she has removed the cap before entering into the polling station. The independent witness cited by the prosecution is hostile towards it. For lack of the certification under Section 65 of the Indian Evidence Act, the photographs are not reliable,” the ACMM further said.
“In the facts and circumstances of the case, the prosecution is unable to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts. Accordingly, accused Ms. Rakhi Bidlan is acquitted of the charges,” Mr. Vishal said dismissing the case against her.