Sinhastha Terror Alarm: MP High Court Denies Relief To Man Booked For Posing As Muslim & Planting Explosives In Hostel

Reasoning that the test identification parade was sufficient to establish the involvement of the convict, Madhya Pradesh High Court has refused to suspend the sentence of Sushil Mishra for planting explosives in a hostel room at Ujjain back in 2016.

According to the court, since the room in the hostel was taken by the appellant using the fake identity card of a non-existent Muslim individual, there was a clear motive to create communal disturbance by showing the involvement of a Muslim organization during the Sinhasta Mela at Ujjain.

The single-judge bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla observed that the commission of the offense by the appellant was established through the identification done by the caretaker as well as the manager of the hostel where the explosives were found. While dismissing the I. A for suspension of sentence in the criminal appeal, the bench sitting at Indore noted as below:

“…considering the serious nature of offence to create communal disturbance the occasion of Sinhast at Ujjain in order to show the involvement of Muslim organization by creating fake identity of a muslim person and urdu papers, this Court does not find any case for grant of suspension of jail sentence”.

The court also noted that the identification parade was rightly conducted in the presence of Nayab Tehsildar.

The appellant was earlier convicted under Sections 419, 467, 471, of IPC and Section 5 of the Explosive Substance Act and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of 1,5,5,5, years respectively with fine.

According to the prosecution version, on 18.03.2016, a person in the name of 'Sajish Khan' as mentioned in the forged Aadhar Card, entered Atishay Shivalekh Hostel in Ujjain and made the check-in. He was carrying a black bag at that time. The said person was not seen on the premises even on the next day. As per the information given by the manager of the hostel, police entered the room with the Bomb Detection & Disposal Squad. They opened the bag to find numerous explosives with electronic circuits and Urdu notes.

The seized explosive substances were sent to FSL, and the FSL report turned out to be positive. Call details between Sushil (1st accused) and Ashish Singh (co-accused) were also made available with the help of Cyber Cell. Ashish, who was working at the Lokayukta office at the relevant time, conspired with Sushil to keep the bag of explosives in the hostel through impersonation, the prosecution had averred. It was also found by the investigating team that Ashish edited the Aadhar Card on his own mobile. The edited version was later sent to the first accused for the commission of the alleged crime. This forged Aaadhar card was then allegedly used by the first accused to procure a new sim card as well.

During the course of the investigation, the first accused, Sushil, who pretended to be a Muslim man before checking in at the hostel, was arrested. This was followed by the arrest of the co-accused Ashish Mishra. At the time of trial, the accused took a defense that no CCTV footage was produced, which casts a shadow on the prosecution case. However, the trial court, as well as the High Court, disagreed with such a stance.

“…In the statement of PW No.1 Radheshyam….PW No.1 stated that the CCTV is installed. However, the said witness did not depose whether the CCTV was in working condition or not. PW No.9 Vivek Gupta had clearly stated that he could not notice the CCTV in the hostel. Thus, the evidence does not establish the installation and working of CCTV at the hostel at the relevant time”, the court pointed out while dismissing the application preferred by Sushil.

For Appellant: Senior Counsel R.S. Chhabra and Advocate Aman Arora

For Respondent: Advocate Ajay Raj Gupta For Advocate General

Case Title: Sushil v. The State Of Madhya Pradesh

Case No: CRA No. 10852 of 2023

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (MP) 87

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