No relief for Rahul Mahajan

TNN / Jun 10, 2006, 00:24 IST

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A Delhi court on Friday deferred a decision on Rahul Mahajan's bail application to June 13.

NEW DELHI: Rahul Mahajan will be spending more time in jail. A Delhi court on Friday deferred a decision on his bail application to June 13, by which time reports from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) indicating the quantity of heroin consumed will be available and the police remand of co-accused Sahil Zaroo come to an end.
Interestingly, in what could prove decisive for Rahul as far his bail plea is concerned, metropolitan magistrate A K Chaturvedi ruled out the feasibility of invoking Section 27A of the NDPS Act while hearing the arguments.
This section, which deals with "financing of drugs", was added by the police against Rahul on Thursday while seeking an extension of the police remand. The court was of the view that financing means more than a single transaction and entails a "series of transactions" with a view to continuing the activity.
"The prosecution is unable to distinguish between financing through a series of transactions and consumption through a single transaction," Chaturvedi held.

Earlier, during the arguments on Rahul's bail plea, the moot question remained the extent and quantity of the drug after police confirmed it was heroin.
Initially, the police had claimed that Sahil had said in his disclosure that the quantity was five grams but later changed it to seven grams.
The court noted that Sahil was in police custody and "shifting from five to seven grams appears to be an afterthought and the same is not corroborated by any material."...

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The police then said they would be in a position to take a stand on the exact amount only after examining the reports of certain "quantitative tests" expected in the next three-four days.
"The requirement of justice is that the said test reports from CFSL be awaited and the prosecution be given a chance to take a stand once and for all on the quantity of drug, regarding which clause of section 21 (sale and purchase of drugs) of NDPS is applicable," said the court.
"By that time the remand of Sahil would be over and the court would be in a position to give a finding on the admissibility of Sahil's disclosure statement on the drug quantity."
With the lower courts in Delhi going into summer recess soon, the bail application will be dealt with on June 13 either by the duty magistrate or the additional chief metropolitan magistrate at the Patiala House courts.
Meanwhile, the case against Apollo Hospital was transferred to the Tughlaq Road police station on Friday. The case had earlier been registered at the Sarita Vihar police station.
The FIR says the doctors took much more time than necessary in informing the police about Rahul's health. It alleges that the hospital had fudged its patient entry register.

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