MUMBAI: Observing that the cop had not authority to stop a 46-year-old Ghatkopar man from travelling on the train when he had valid tickets, a sessions court recently acquitted him on charges of assaulting the cop in 2020. The court also said that mere scuffle between the two as seen from the CCTV footage would not would not be sufficient to prove the charge.
"As can be seen from the CCTV footage, it is not the accused only who was doing the overt act. The informant has equally participated in the act by holding the shirt of the accused. In all these circumstances, in my view, it can not be said that the offence under Section 353 of IPC is proved beyond reasonable doubt against the accused," the judge said.
Section 353 related to offences of assault or criminal force done to deter a public servant from discharge of duty. The accused Mangesh Pawar was out on bail. The judge also referred to the magistrate court's December 2020 order granting bail. "In the order, there is reference to the photocopies of railway tickets and confirmed journey tickets from travel from Dadar Railway Station to Ratnagiri which included return ticket from Ghatkopar to CSMT. The railway tickets referred in the bail order are available in the records of the file. These indicate that the accused was having valid train tickets for travel through railway at the relevant time," the judge said.
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