Either the CBI is very incompetent or the Special Judge is ferociously independent – in the Aarushi case:

Either the CBI is very incompetent or the Special Judge is ferociously independent – in the Aarushi case:

by Kv Dhananjay on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 3:24pm

97% of the time, Magistrates in India are content to accept the recommendation of the Police and to take Cognizance and summon the accused. Often, Magistrates in India are hard pressed for time and are content to agree with the recommendation of the Police – who’s got the time to run through tens or hundreds of pages for each case?

Remember this: once a FIR is registered and investigation begins by the Police, the Police are duty bound to issue a ‘Final Report’ of their investigation to the Magistrate (who generally oversees the investigation though not directing it). In such a ‘Final Report’, the Police will state their recommendation: whether the accused should be charged and tried with the commission of the offences registered and accumulated against him OR whether the evidence collected in the course of the investigation is not enough to proceed against the accused.

In this case, the CBI (which is nothing but a Police agency) submitted their report on what evidence came to be collected by them. Having turned over their findings, they had recommended in their ‘Final Report’ that the case against accused be closed as the CBI is of the view that the evidence is not enough to prosecute the accused. However, the Magistrate (called the Special Judge) chose to disagree with the Police and has ordered that, based on his own reading of the ‘Final Report’ (that is, considering the evidence already gathered by the CBI), there is enough material to charge and proceed against the accused. So, the Judge appears to have taken cognizance and has further summoned the accused to stand trial.

So, I would say that the Judge here is certainly a minority– he belongs to the 3% Magistrates who don’t necessarily adopt the recommendation of the Police.

So, what next? Here are the steps:
On whatever date the Judge has summoned the accused to appear, the Judge will provide the accused with a copy of the ‘Charge Sheet’ (a condensed form of ‘Final Report’) and the accused will risk arrest and custody and will be forced to ask for bail (as the law presumes that an accused standing trial for certain kinds of offences will remain in custody unless he secures bail).

It is fun to see wild interpretation in the media for now. Enjoying it.

K.V.Dhananjay