SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed appeals filed by the eight accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, upholding the charges framed against them by a special NIA court.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay K Agrawal and Justice Sameer Jain upheld the special court’s orders dated January 12 and February 13, 2024, while finding no grounds to interfere with the framing of charges.
The accused – Mohammad Riyaz Attari, Mohammad Ghouse, Mohsin Khan, Asif Hussain, Mohammad Mohsin, Wasim Ali, Mohammad Javed Khan and Muslim Khan – face charges under Sections 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), besides provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was hacked to death at his shop in Udaipur on June 28, 2022. The assailants had also recorded a video of the killing, which has triggered widespread outrage.
The High Court observed that the absence of direct evidence or eyewitness testimony of a conspiracy was not sufficient grounds to discharge an accused.
It said criminal conspiracy could be established through circumstantial evidence and court could consider the cumulative effect of the material on record while deciding whether charges should be framed.
The bench also clarified that the court was not required to conclusively determine the guilt or innocence of an accused at the stage of framing charges.
The evidence and credibility of witnesses would be examined independently during the trial, it said.
The accused had challenged the charges on several grounds, including the alleged videos and online threats attributed to them.
They also questioned the applicability of UAPA provisions, arguing that there was no direct evidence linking them to any banned terrorist organisation.
The High Court, however, declined to interfere with the special court’s orders.
The ruling allows the trial against the eight accused to proceed before the special NIA court.
SOURCE : SIASAT
