HYDERABAD: Several lapses in the investigation and inconsistencies in the statements of witnesses, including police and government officials, proved fatal to the case of the prosecution and led to the acquittal of Chandrayangutta MLA and AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi on Wednesday.
In the Nizamabad case, which was later investigated by the Crime Investigation Department (CID), a Sub-Inspector (SI) had seized a DVD containing the alleged speech from a freelance videographer. However, the seizure report for the same was made by another officer. Evidence of both these officials was contradictory.
The speech was first translated by an advocate in Nizamabad and then by the Director of Translations, Government of Telangana, and later by a professor from the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, but all these three translations had different interpretations.
Raw footage not submitted
While the actual speeches in Nizamabad and Nirmal were more than one hour in duration, only a small portion of the speeches were collected and submitted to the court. Though the voice samples of Akbaruddin were tested by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh, and proven that they are of Akbaruddin, the report was of no use in the court, as there was no continuity and the raw video footage was not submitted to the court.
Two Circle Inspectors (CIs) and SIs were interrogated by the CID in the case, but their testimonies were inconsistent. In addition, a certificate under the Indian Evidence Act, authenticating the video footage as true and submitted to the agency by its owner, was not submitted to the court on time and the videographer, who had submitted the DVD was also not produced before the court, on time. Even when he was produced before the court for examination, he did not support the case.
Witnesses fail to support prosecution
In the Nirmal case, the Village Revenue Officers (VROs) did not support the prosecution. Amber Kishore Jha, who was then the Utnoor Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), who had then given permission to hold the meeting, had also deposed before the court.
Owners and staff of six Urdu channels, which covered the meeting live, were also examined, but they did not support the case of the prosecution. Further, a CI, who first saw the video, got it translated by an Urdu speaking SI before registering a case, but that fact was ignored while registering the FIR.
Though two independent witnesses supported in the Nirmal case and another independent witness in the Delhi case, which was investigated by CID, supported the prosecution, they did not stand during the cross-examination, as the court found them to be interested in the case.
MLA pays homage to ancestors
After the acquittal in hate speech cases, Chandrayangutta MLA and AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi visited the Dargah Shah Mohammad Hasan Qibla RA and offered Fateha at the graves of his grandfather Abdul Wahed Owaisi and father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, with his followers on Wednesday