New Delhi: Delhi Police on Monday requested a court here to frame charges under the stringent TADA Act against Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda in a 1994 case related to recovery of explosive substances.
Filing a written submission before Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar, police asked the court to frame charges under sections 3(3) and 5 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act along with section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian penal code against Tunda.
"... in light of the view expressed by the Supreme Court, the views expressed by the designated court cannot be held to be the exact interpretation of section 3 of TADA. Hence, this court in the light of interpretation given by the Supreme Court may frame charges under section 3(3) of TADA Act against accused Abdul Karim Tunda," police said in their submission.
Defence counsel MS Khan opposed the police plea, and said the judgement of the designated court was not challenged and "the acquittal of the accused for the offences of conspiracy is in force".
He said the prosecution "could not establish criminal conspiracy" and once the accused was acquitted of charges of criminal conspiracy, he (Tunda) cannot be charged for the offences under section 3(3) and 5 of TADA.
The court fixed the matter for consideration July 28.
On May 15, the court indicated that charges filed against Tunda under TADA could be dropped as it has not found any sufficient evidence against him.
However, the court indicated that it found prima facie evidence against Tunda for charging him under the Explosive Substances Act.
Delhi Police March 12 filed a supplementary chargesheet against Tunda under the TADA and the ESA.
The court earlier sought clarification from police whether they had any fresh evidence against Tunda for the charges under TADA, while observing that five other co-accused in the case were discharged by a trial court in December 1999 from TADA charges.
However, the five were convicted under the ESA and on charges of criminal conspiracy.
Police said the designated court, at that time, while acquitting the five co-accused under TADA, had said Tunda was excluded from its observations.
Tunda was declared a proclaimed offender in the case of recovery of explosive substances.
The case was registered in south Delhi`s Malviya Nagar police station in 1994.
Police said some of the accused were arrested Jan 17, 1994, and 150 kg explosives and six daggers were seized from them.
Police said Tunda was involved in 33 bomb blasts in India between 1994 and 1998, 22 of those in Delhi. He was arrested in August 2013.
