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Legal debate over Sanjay Dutt as court witness
Mumbai, Jan 26: The prosecution`s move to summon actor Sanjay Dutt as court witness in the case of alleged Bollywood nexus with underworld has triggered a debate in legal circles on the need to examine him at the fag end of the trial.
Mumbai, Jan 26:
The prosecution`s move to summon actor Sanjay Dutt as court witness in the case of alleged Bollywood nexus with underworld has triggered a debate in legal circles on the need to examine him at the fag end of the trial. The examination of Dutt as a court witness and not as a prosecution witness has set a cat among the pigeons with prosecutor Rohini Salian urging the court to summon him and the defence lawyers declaring to oppose her plea. Designated judge A P Bhangale would tomorrow give his ruling on the prosecution`s plea to examine Dutt as a court witness after hearing both the sides. A prosecution witness goes through examination-in-chief which has its own limitations. The right to cross-examine him lies with the defence lawyers and the prosecution can cross-examine him only if he turned hostile, says noted criminal lawyer Majeed Memon. However, in case of a court witness, the prosecution as well as defence are entitled to cross examine him and scope in this regard was very wide, Memon said.
"The prosecution`s move to invite Dutt as a court witness is to entitle to itself the right to cross-examine him even if he is not declared hostile. The actor is expected to be a court witness so that both the sides of the trial will have a legitimate right to cross examine him," Memon opined.
Defence lawyers representing accused, Bharat Shah, Nasim Rizvi, Abdul Rahim Allah Baksh and Mohammed Shamshuddin alias Bhatija are all set to oppose prosecution`s plea on the ground that Dutt should have been cited as prosecution witness if his evidence was so crucial to the case.
"In the garb of summoning Sanjay Dutt as a court witness, the prosecution is trying to fill in the gaps in its case," opined defence lawyer Vibhav Krishna.
"Powers of the court under Section 311 of Cr.PC to summon a witness cannot be exercised to fill in the lacunae in prosecution`s case," he said.
Dutt`s statement had not been recorded by police and so his examination can only be restricted to prove a document and not to plug loopholes in the prosecution`s case, he said.
Prosecutor Rohini Salian justified her move to examine Dutt as a court witness. The actor would be summoned to give corroborative evidence to support the case, she said.
According to prosecution, Dutt and three others had allegedly talked to Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel about developments in Bollywood on telephone from a hotel in Nasik on November 14, 2000. The talks allegedly reveal nexus of Bollywood with underworld.
Financier Harish Sughand, producer Sanjay Gupta and director Mahesh Manjrekar had also talked to Shakeel on telephone though most of them have denied in their deposition.
When the conversation was played in the court, Harish had admitted that the alleged voices were that of Dutt, Gupta and Manjrekar.
Dutt had inquired from Shakeel as to why he threatened actress Preity Zinta to seek extortion amount and the gangster had denied it saying that on the contrary he had paid her money as she was a heroine in his film (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke).
When Preity was examined as witness she confirmed the threat and said entire Bollywood including Dutt was aware about the threatening call she received.
The prosecution would also examine Dutt to verify a cheque issued by him to producer Mansoor Siddiqui. This cheque was recovered by police during a raid on the premises of producer Nasim Rizvi who is facing the charge of targeting film stars for personal gains in league with gangster Shakeel.
According to police, Siddiqui had signed Sanjay for a film and paid him Rs ten lakh as signing amount. However, the proposal did not materialise and Siddiqui asked back the amount given by him.
Siddiqui`s relative then telephoned Shakeel to recover the amount from Sanjay and he was assured that the money was safe and would be returned to him. Accordingly, Sanjay`s secretary handed over the cheque to Shakeel`s man, Rizvi.
Police have in their possession a tape recorded telephonic conversation between Shakeel and Siddiqui`s relative which throws light on this aspect.
About 60 witnesses have already deposed in this case and around ten more are yet to come.
About 14 Bollywood witnesses, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rakesh Roshan, Kishen Kumar, Annes Bazme, Mansoor Siddiqui, Ali Morani, Mohammed Morani, Sanjay Gupta, Mahesh Manjrekar and Harish Sughand have turned hostile. Only actress Preity Zinta supported the prosecution`s case by disclosing that she had received threat.
Bureau Report
The prosecution`s move to summon actor Sanjay Dutt as court witness in the case of alleged Bollywood nexus with underworld has triggered a debate in legal circles on the need to examine him at the fag end of the trial. The examination of Dutt as a court witness and not as a prosecution witness has set a cat among the pigeons with prosecutor Rohini Salian urging the court to summon him and the defence lawyers declaring to oppose her plea. Designated judge A P Bhangale would tomorrow give his ruling on the prosecution`s plea to examine Dutt as a court witness after hearing both the sides. A prosecution witness goes through examination-in-chief which has its own limitations. The right to cross-examine him lies with the defence lawyers and the prosecution can cross-examine him only if he turned hostile, says noted criminal lawyer Majeed Memon. However, in case of a court witness, the prosecution as well as defence are entitled to cross examine him and scope in this regard was very wide, Memon said.
"The prosecution`s move to invite Dutt as a court witness is to entitle to itself the right to cross-examine him even if he is not declared hostile. The actor is expected to be a court witness so that both the sides of the trial will have a legitimate right to cross examine him," Memon opined.
Defence lawyers representing accused, Bharat Shah, Nasim Rizvi, Abdul Rahim Allah Baksh and Mohammed Shamshuddin alias Bhatija are all set to oppose prosecution`s plea on the ground that Dutt should have been cited as prosecution witness if his evidence was so crucial to the case.
"In the garb of summoning Sanjay Dutt as a court witness, the prosecution is trying to fill in the gaps in its case," opined defence lawyer Vibhav Krishna.
"Powers of the court under Section 311 of Cr.PC to summon a witness cannot be exercised to fill in the lacunae in prosecution`s case," he said.
Dutt`s statement had not been recorded by police and so his examination can only be restricted to prove a document and not to plug loopholes in the prosecution`s case, he said.
Prosecutor Rohini Salian justified her move to examine Dutt as a court witness. The actor would be summoned to give corroborative evidence to support the case, she said.
According to prosecution, Dutt and three others had allegedly talked to Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel about developments in Bollywood on telephone from a hotel in Nasik on November 14, 2000. The talks allegedly reveal nexus of Bollywood with underworld.
Financier Harish Sughand, producer Sanjay Gupta and director Mahesh Manjrekar had also talked to Shakeel on telephone though most of them have denied in their deposition.
When the conversation was played in the court, Harish had admitted that the alleged voices were that of Dutt, Gupta and Manjrekar.
Dutt had inquired from Shakeel as to why he threatened actress Preity Zinta to seek extortion amount and the gangster had denied it saying that on the contrary he had paid her money as she was a heroine in his film (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke).
When Preity was examined as witness she confirmed the threat and said entire Bollywood including Dutt was aware about the threatening call she received.
The prosecution would also examine Dutt to verify a cheque issued by him to producer Mansoor Siddiqui. This cheque was recovered by police during a raid on the premises of producer Nasim Rizvi who is facing the charge of targeting film stars for personal gains in league with gangster Shakeel.
According to police, Siddiqui had signed Sanjay for a film and paid him Rs ten lakh as signing amount. However, the proposal did not materialise and Siddiqui asked back the amount given by him.
Siddiqui`s relative then telephoned Shakeel to recover the amount from Sanjay and he was assured that the money was safe and would be returned to him. Accordingly, Sanjay`s secretary handed over the cheque to Shakeel`s man, Rizvi.
Police have in their possession a tape recorded telephonic conversation between Shakeel and Siddiqui`s relative which throws light on this aspect.
About 60 witnesses have already deposed in this case and around ten more are yet to come.
About 14 Bollywood witnesses, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rakesh Roshan, Kishen Kumar, Annes Bazme, Mansoor Siddiqui, Ali Morani, Mohammed Morani, Sanjay Gupta, Mahesh Manjrekar and Harish Sughand have turned hostile. Only actress Preity Zinta supported the prosecution`s case by disclosing that she had received threat.
Bureau Report