Bharat Shah case: Shopowner unaware of SIM card sales term

MUMBAI: The owner of a suburban shop from where the driver of producer Nazim Rizvi allegedly purchased a prepaid SIM card on April 5, 2000 told a special court on Tuesday that he did not know it it was mandatory for the customer to furnish certain details in prescribed forms while buying the card.
The shop-owner, a young computer engineer, deposed as the ninth prosecution witness in the court of special judge A.P.Bhangale who is conducting the trial of film financier and diamond merchant Bharat Shah, Rizvi and two others under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Mr Shah, Rizvi, his assistant Abdul Rahim Allabaksh and alleged hawala operator Mohammed Shamshuddin are being tried for their alleged links with Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel.
The police have taped the alleged telephonic conversation of Shakeel when he spoke to Rizvi on the mobile phone number 9821278203 using the SIM card in question.
While buying the card, a customer has to fill his personal details in Form-60 which is sent to the income tax department, an application form and also a statement agreeing with the mobile company’s terms and conditions.
During his cross-examination by Rizvi’s lawyer, S.N. Chimade, the witness told the court that he had not read the terms and conditions one of which was that the customer must ensure the original receipt of the purchase the card since it might be required from time to time under different circumstances.
The witness said that although he had not seen the customer (Rizvi’s driver), a receipt was given to him.
He also told the court that he had procured the particular SIM card from the company’s dealer on the morning of April 5, 2000 and it was sold later in the day.