HC upholds framing of charges against gangster under MCOCA

Framing of charges against a member of Ayub Chikna gang under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for firing at a person and robbing his gold ornaments in 2009 has been upheld by the Bombay High Court.
A bench headed by Justice V M Kanade held that Anwar Elahi Fazal Elahi Khan had been rightly booked under MCOCA for being a member of an organised crime syndicate. It opined that the trial court was justified in framing charges against him.
Anwar had filed an appeal against the trial court's order, framing charges against him under MCOCA, on January 16 this year, for committing robbery and firing at a person, in order to create terror in the locality.

"We have scrutinised evidence available against the appellant and are of the firm opinion that the evidence is more than sufficient to frame charges under Section 228 of the Criminal Procedure Code and to proceed against him in the matter," judges said.
The court observed that before framing charges in this case, the appellant did not seek discharge under Section 227 of the CPC and the charge has now been framed. Therefore, judges said that they were of a firm opinion that the court was right in framing charges under various provisions of law.
"Accordingly, we do not find any legal infirmity in the court's order and dismiss the appeal," the judges said.

On April 24, 2009, Suresh, a resident of Dahisar in North Mumbai was robbed by unidentifed men who opened fire and took away gold bangles he was carrying in a bag.
According to the police, Anwar was among a group of people who had fired at Suresh. He was arrested on July 21, 2012, and booked under MCOCA. The complainant also pointed at Anwar during the identification parade, saying he was the person who had opened fire and robbed him of valuables.