Thane court acquits man accused of assaulting traffic cop 13 years ago

Thane, Oct 6 (PTI) A court here has acquitted a man accused of assaulting a traffic constable during an altercation in 2012, observing the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt due to "contradictory and unreliable" witness testimony.

A copy of the order dated October 3 was made available on Monday.

Additional Sessions Judge G T Pawar acquitted Raghunath Nana Buge of all charges under sections 353 (assault on a public servant), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Chandrakant Dayanand Bidaye, who was then a traffic head constable, had alleged that on March 6, 2012, Buge objected to a jammer being applied to his dumper on Ghodbunder Road in Maharashtra's Thane city and threatened to "cut down the constable's hand and leg".

The accused abused, assaulted and threatened him while he was performing his duty, the cop alleged.

After a trial that extended over 13 years since the FIR, judge Pawar noted serious inconsistencies in the prosecution's version.

"The prosecution witness has deposed that the accused came to the spot in a car and had quarreled with him. Whereas another prosecution witness in cross-examination has admitted that no quarrel took place with either the driver or the owner of the car. Thus, the evidence of the two prosecution witnesses as regards quarrel by the accused is contradictory," the judge observed.

The court further pointed out that the testimony of another eyewitness, the crane driver, was inconsistent with the account of the incident.

The prosecution witness has deposed that at the time of the incident, he was driving the crane and they were towing a car when one person got down from the car and started abusing the informant, and he did not know what happened thereafter.

His evidence is contradictory to the evidence of the other prosecution witnesses who stated that a dumper was being towed at the time of the incident, the judge noted.

The court also remarked that the investigation officer had not recorded the statement of any independent witness, though they were available. Hence, there is doubt about the prosecution's case and the accused is entitled to the benefit of doubt, it said.

Concluding that the prosecution had "failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused used criminal force against the informant or intentionally insulted him or criminally intimidated him," the court acquitted Buge of all charges. PTI COR GK