Events & Personalities
A trial in September
Kobad Ghandy: facing less serious charges
The Kobad Ghandy trial is scheduled to begin on September 4, 2012 after a Delhi court ordered that charges be framed against the Maoist leader. On July 16, 2012, the court of Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain ruled that Ghandy, who has been in Tihar Jail awaiting trial since his arrest on September 20, 2009, will now be tried under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), reported The Indian Express (IE) on July 17, 2012.
According to Ghandy’s counsel Rebecca John, this has been a "victory over the prosecution... (which) had earlier tried to charge him as a terrorist but now has only been able to frame charges against him for membership of an unlawful association.” In April this year the police charge-sheet had booked him under several sections of the UAPA, including conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and being member of a terrorist gang. He was accused of being a "Maoist ideologue” and living in Delhi using false documents to propagate the activities of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), IE mentions.
When a sessions court had dropped all charges against Ghandy under the anti-terror law, due to a technicality (want of proper sanction), the Delhi Police filed a fresh charge-sheet against him, similar to the earlier one, states IE.
Ghandy will now face trial under UAPA for membership of a terrorist organization and under the Indian Penal Code for forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy because he was found to be in possession of a false voter’s ID card, the newspaper noted.
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