Bombay High Court Discharges Man Booked For Alleged Conspiracy To Illegally Transport Two Children To USA

Justice Bharati Dangre observed that allegations against the accused, one Zakir Yusuf Shaikh, do not show his knowledge of the conspiracy, and in the absence of sufficient material against him, the trial would be an empty formality.

“As far as the role attributed to the present Applicant in the charge-sheet is concerned, it does not in any manner indicated his involvement and the knowledge on his part about the offence being committed. I have not taken into consideration the defence of the Applicant, as the contents of the charge-sheet and the material collected by the prosecution speak for itself and, hence, in absence of the sufficiency of the material, to take him for trial, which would ultimately be an empty formality, I deem it appropriate to discharge him from the case”, the court held.

The court quashed the order of the Sessions court refusing to discharge the accused from the case. The man was booked for allegedly buying or disposing of any person as a slave, cheating and forgery, under sections 370, 419, 420, 465, 468, and 471, read with section 120B of the IPC.

The Additional Sessions Judge, Greater Bombay, on May 9, 2022, rejected the discharge application filed by the Applicant Zakir Shaikh. The application was filed on the grounds that there was insufficient material to take him to trial. Thus, he filed the present revision application challenging the Sessions court order.

The case was initiated based on a letter forwarded by the Consulate General of the United States of America. The letter narrated an incident wherein prime accused Nirmala Qureshi had applied for a US visa and also submitted visa applications for her two children. As per the police, since the children were below 14 years of age, they were not required to appear for the interview. The complainant alleged that the two children never travelled to the US, and Qureshi transported two other children to the US using her own children's passports. The two children were illegally residing in the US, as per the complaint.

The charge sheet filed in the case implicated Shaikh as one of the accused, alleging that he played a role in procuring flight tickets for Nirmala and her children. The prosecution accused Nirmala of forging immigration documents to create an impression that the children traveling with her were her own.

According to the statement of a witness Tabrej Shaikh, owner of a company dealing in air ticketing and visa, Zakir Shaikh, known to him as a passport agent, had requested him to book tickets for Qureshi and her children. The witness mentioned that Zakir had requested the cancellation of return tickets, and he complied with the request.

The court opined that the mere cancellation of return tickets did not necessarily indicate any suspicious activity on the part of Shaikh.

“I do not think that mere cancellation of the return ticket is suspicious circumstance, as it is possible that the passenger might make a request to cancel the ticket of a particular date, but that itself would not amount to an offence, if upon such request, the ticket is cancelled and in fact, the cancellation is by Tabrej, and according to him, it is at the instance of the present Applicant”, said the court.

The court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish Zakir's involvement in the alleged conspiracy and knowledge of the offense. The court quashed the impugned order and discharged Zakir Yusuf Shaikh from the charges levelled against him in the case.

Case no. – Criminal Revision Application No. 109 of 2023

Case title – Zakir Yusuf Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra