New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): Delhi’s Saket Court on Friday discharged Lawrence Bishnoi and two others in a case related to an alleged bid to extort Rs 1 crore from a lawyer. The court noted that there was no evidence against the accused except their own disclosure statements.
The case pertains to firing and extortion calls, following an FIR lodged by Delhi Police in April 2023. After completing the investigation, the Delhi Police Crime Branch had filed a charge sheet against Lawrence Bishnoi, Haren Sarapdadiya, and Ashish Sharma.
Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Nupur Gupta discharged the trio from the offence of extortion and related charges.
The court observed that the complainant had not alleged any delivery of property under threat, nor was this mentioned in the charge sheet. “Thus, the accused persons are not liable to be charged for an offence punishable under Section 386 of the IPC,” Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Nupur Gupta said on February 20.
The court further noted that, apart from the disclosure statements of the accused, there is no evidence on record to constitute the offences for which they were charge-sheeted.
Accordingly, all three accused, Lawrence Bishnoi, Haren Sarapdadiya, and Ashish Sharma, have been discharged of offences punishable under Sections 386 (putting a person under threat to extort money or property), 387 (punishment for extortion) IPC, read with Section 120B IPC.
While discharging the accused, the court emphasized that the prosecution had not alleged that any property was actually delivered to the accused, which is a crucial element of the offences under Section 386 IPC.
The court observed, “To constitute an offence of extortion, there must be actual delivery of property, money, or valuable security induced by fear. Mere demands or threats without delivery do not suffice.”
It noted that in the present case, the complainant had only alleged receiving calls from an unknown number demanding Rs 1 crore.
“On perusal of the complaint itself, it can be said that nothing has been mentioned at all about the physical act, rather it has simply being said he was asked to pay a particular sum of money,” the court added.
An FIR in the case was registered at Sunlight Colony Police Station by complainant Raman Deep Singh. The complaint stated that on the night of April 23-24, 2023, he began receiving calls from an unknown number demanding Rs 1 crore.
The complainant alleged that he initially ignored the calls, but after receiving multiple calls from the same number along with a threat to his life, he lodged a formal complaint. An FIR was subsequently registered under Section 387 IPC.
Following investigation, the Delhi Police Crime Branch filed a charge sheet against four accused under Sections 386 and 387 IPC, read with Section 120B IPC.
Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) argued that the prosecution had successfully brought all material facts on record, prima facie establishing the accused’s liability for the offences.
However, the counsel for the accused submitted that the accused were not named in the FIR and no recovery has been effected from their possession. They argued that the arrests were based solely on disclosure statements of co-accused, and hence, they are liable to be discharged.
Earlier, while taking cognizance of the case, the court had observed, “There is sufficient material on record to show prima facie that accused Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra, Ashish Sharma, and Haren Sarapdadiya committed offences punishable under Sections 386 and 387 IPC read with Section 120B IPC. Cognizance was taken accordingly. (ANI)