Babloo Srivastava and three others acquitted by court

Delhi Police's failure to place on record mandatory certificates regarding admissibility of electronic evidence has led a city court to acquit underworld don Babloo Srivastava and three others in a 2003 alleged extortion case.
Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh acquitted the four accused observing that electronic evidence produced before it by the Special Cell of Delhi Police were "inadmissible" due to the absence of any requisite certificates under section 65B (admissibility of electronic records) of Indian Evidence Act.
"In these facts and circumstances there is only conclusion which can be reached at the end of this trial i.E. the prosecution has been unable to prove the charges made against the accused persons beyond any reasonable doubt. They are therefore acquitted of the charges framed against them," the court said.

Besides Om Prakash Srivastava alias Babloo, the other three acquitted in the case were his alleged associates Pradeep Khurana, Jitender Singh and Fazl-ur-Rehman.
They were chargesheeted for offences under various sections of IPC, including 364 A (kidnapping for ransom), 387 (putting or attempting to put a person in fear of death or grievous hurt in order to commit extortion).
The court noted that the recorded conversations, in which the accused had allegedly demanded money and threatened the complainant, were verified by the CFSL Chandigarh and report of the same regarding voice sample was positive.
"However, in the absence of requisite certificates under Section 65 of the Evidence Act, electronic evidence produced by the prosecution i.E. Tape recorded conversations, voice samples and CDRs (call detail records) of mobile phones connection have been rendered as inadmissible in evidence," it observed.

According to the police, a complaint was filed on April 15, 2003 by complainant Sheetal Prasad Singh who had said that he was being threatened by Babloo and his associates allegedly at the behest of his business rival Nitin Shah.