New Delhi: In what could be a game changer in the war against organised crime, Delhi Police is contemplating forming a dedicated MCOCA cell to handle the investigation and prosecutions under the stringent Act. TOI has learnt that this cell will not only have police personnel, but may also comprise lawyers and chartered accountants to aid in the probe. Crime Branch is working on the nitty gritty, sources said. A spate of acquittals and a poor conviction record under the Act is said to be behind this decision.
"Establishing guilt under MCOCA is not just about people's involvement in crime, but proving that they have amassed wealth and built a criminal empire. Police must prove that the suspects are part of a syndicate and that the money they make from crime goes into building a criminal empire or is invested in property," an officer explained. "But linking benami properties to the accused and the criminal empire is not easy, especially for cops who have no specialisation in economic offences or monetary investigation and this helps the criminals during trial."
A dedicated cell, senior cops agreed, would help up the ante against criminals. It would also help leash the gangsters and their henchmen. "Most importantly, it will improve the quality of investigation under the Act," an officer said.
In the last decade, Delhi Police has managed only three convictions. Last year, the killers of Soumya Vishwanathan were convicted for life under MCOCA. The second conviction was in a cheating case in 2019. "A court convicted six people on charges of cheating, forgery, impersonation and criminal conspiracy for victimising a large number of people in different states," another officer recalled. In 2013, police managed a conviction of a former Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Haji Afzal in 20 cases of land grabbing and extortion.
The list of acquittals, in contrast, is long. After describing gangster Neeraj Bawana as "a symbol of lawlessness" and "Delhi's Dawood" while booking him under MCOCA, Delhi Police hasn't been able to prove charges under the stringent Act against him, leading to his acquittal under MCOCA last year. Even underworld don Babloo Srivastava and his aide Fazal-ur-Rehman were acquitted of MCOCA charges in 2012. Sex trafficker Sonu Punjaban was acquitted of MCOCA in 2014. Mafia don Mukhtar Ansari and his associates were also acquitted of the same charges in 2016. Last Aug, TOI had reported how things would change if a dedicated cell were formed to deal with such cases.
From booking cricketer S Sreesanth in the 2013 spot-fixing case to conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, Delhi Police has been liberal in slapping MCOCA cases against many accused. Recently, they filed a second case under MCOCA against gangster Hashim Baba.
"One of the major reasons for the acquittals is that in a large number of cases, MCOCA is invoked with the primary objective of depriving the accused of bail. That, however, hasn't proved a deterrent with the gangsters freely operating from behind bars as a series of extortion calls and other incidents in Tihar Jail show," said a retired top cop.
The complex procedure police need to follow and the need to prove linkages beyond doubt under MCOCA is another factor. Overworked and inexperienced investigating officers leave loopholes that are exploited by the defence. Several conditions need to be fulfilled to invoke MCOCA against the accused.
One of these conditions is that two chargesheets must have been filed against the accused prior to their being charged under this law. "However, this is the most misunderstood provision and leads to acquittals," a senior lawyer explained. "The condition, as held by many courts, is that two chargesheets for organised crime showing a commonality with the offence for which the accused is to be charged under MCOCA is the essential requirement." The law also stipulates that only an ACP-level officer should be the investigating officer.
MCOCA was aimed at dismantling organised crime syndicates in Maharashtra and its success led to its extension to Delhi in Jan 2002. "The first case under MCOCA was filed on May 6, 2002, against two henchmen of underworld don Abu Salem. Both were later acquitted. As per our data, MCOCA has been slapped in around 100 cases till date," an officer recalled