Man acquitted in cheating case

A man accused of selling fake cameras has been acquitted of the charges of cheating by a Delhi court which said there were grave "material contradictions" and lacuna in testimonies of the prosecution.
Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat let off Delhi resident Zakir Hussain of the charges committed under sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.
"I am of the considered view that the prosecution has failed to prove the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and grave suspicion has been caused upon the presence of member of raiding party and the raid itself," the judge said.

The court noted that even though all the witnesses had identified the accused as well as case property allegedly recovered from his possession, there were grave material contradictions which caused suspicion upon the version of prosecution.
"The accused deserves benefit of doubt. Even allegation of camera being fake has not been proved as no expert/mechanic of camera has been examined to prove that the camera was indeed fake," it said.
According to police, on July 23, 2004, it received a tip off that Hussain along with one Naushad, was selling fake cameras to passengers after inducing them at Subzi Mandi Railway Station here.

A police constable was sent to them as a decoy for buying the camera. As the deal got final, the accused were apprehended and an FIR was registered later.
Hussain denied the allegations and said that he was falsely implicated as the case property was planted upon him.
Naushad was declared proclaimed offender in 2007 and could not be traced by the police.