Gadchiroli attack: Court junks plea to drop MCOCA charges

Mumbai: A special NIA court on Thursday rejected a plea to drop MCOCA charges filed by three men accused of helping orchestrate the 2019 Maoist attack in Gadchiroli. It said prima facie, there is ample material to show that the three are members of the banned CPI (Maoist).The prosecution has submitted a list of 65 cases registered against the three—Parasram Tulavi, Somsay Madavi and Kisan Hidami. Fifteen police personnel and a civilian were killed by Maoists in the 2019 attack.The accused submitted that while the alleged incident occurred on May 1, 2019, the FIR was registered the day after the present crime in question took place. The cognizance in alleged previous chargesheets, a prerequisite for invoking the MCOCA sections, is subsequent to the registration of the present crime. The accused also said that the provisions of MCOC Act are not satisfied in the matter. “There are no prior chargesheets in the preceding 10 years against the accused,” the defence lawyer submitted. It was also argued that the prosecution is relying on two 2019 cases pending before Gadchiroli sessions court to show continuous unlawful activities. It was argued that the chargesheet in both the cases were filed after the date of incident in the present case. In two separate orders, the court said, “The allegations made against the applicant(s) are specific. The material placed disclosed grave suspicion in the matter. Whether or not those allegations are true is a matter which cannot be determined at the stage of framing of charge. Any such determination can take place only at the conclusion of trial.”