Delhi court discharges Samajwadi Party MP's assistant

A Delhi court on Saturday discharged Farhat Khan, personal assistant to Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament (MP) Munawwar Saleem. Khan was arrested by the Crime Branch in 2016 on charges of spying for Pakistan.

The Patiala House Court released Khan as there was no sufficient evidence against him. He was arrested under Sections 3 (Penalties for spying) and 9 (Attempts, incitements, etc) of the Official Secret Act and Section 120 B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The court, however, framed charges against three other accused namely Maulana Ramzan Khan, Subhash Jangir and Soheb Hussain in connection with the same case under the same sections.

In 2016, the Delhi Police Crime Branch busted a spy ring which involved an official of the Pakistan High Commission. Even though the official was arrested by the police, the charge sheet did not mention his name, Mahmood Akhtar, due to the diplomatic immunity.

Later, he was sent back to Pakistan through a diplomatic channel.