Delhi court rejects bail plea of accused in MCOCA case, issues show-cause notices

Delhi court rejects bail plea of accused in MCOCA case, issues show-cause notices

New Delhi, A Delhi court has dismissed the regular bail plea of an alleged member of the Gogi gang, in a case under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act .

Delhi court rejects bail plea of accused in MCOCA case, issues show-cause notices

The court also issued show-cause notices to the wife of the accused Kapil Mann alias Kallu and the Delhi Police for "remaining conspicuously silent" regarding dismissal of an earlier regular bail application.

Jitender alias Gogi was shot dead inside the Rohini court complex in September 2021.

Additional Sessions Judge Gagandeep Singh, in an order passed on Thursday, noted that Mann had been in judicial custody since December 9, 2019, in the case registered in 2018 at Alipur police station and investigated by the Delhi Police Special Cell.

The judge noted that a supplementary chargesheet had been filed against Mann under Sections 3 and 4 of the MCOCA.

"The order of the charge dated January 31, 2023, records the finding that there has been sufficient material on record to frame charges against all the accused persons, including the applicant ," the court said.

Rejecting the accused's argument on not being involved in prior cases, the court said the requirement of previous involvement in cognisable offences under the Act applies to the organised crime syndicate as a whole and not to each member individually.

It said that even otherwise, as far as the prima facie case against the accused is concerned, the order on charge recorded his involvement in five FIR's where he was involved with the other members of the Organised Crime Syndicate led by deceased Jitender alias Gogi.

On the aspect of delay, the court acknowledged that the trial had been slow, attributing it to further investigation continuing until July 2023.

It, however, held that delay alone could not justify bail given the accused's alleged conduct and his involvement in multiple murder cases.

"It has to be concluded that the applicant has failed to discharge the onus placed upon him of satisfying the twin conditions under Section 21 of the MCOCA," the judge said, dismissing the plea.

MCOCA bail is governed by Section 21, which imposes twin conditions for bail: reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and not likely to commit an offence while on bail.

Meanwhile, the court flagged a "serious issue" regarding the conduct of both the parties.

It noted that Mann categorically pleaded that he had not filed any other similar petition or application before any court except the present one, and even the supporting affidavit by his wife Kajal Khatri tried to mislead the court by preferring to remain silent.

"Similar is the response of the Investigating Officer , who has filed the reply to the present application. However, the record reflects that the applicant herein preferred the regular bail application which came to be dismissed by the predecessor court on October 10, 2025," the court said.

The judge said the applicant as well as the investigating authority "tried to mislead the court by remaining conspicuously silent regarding dismissal of an earlier regular bail application."

"Accordingly, a show cause notice be issued to Kajal Khatri for filing the reply as to why contempt proceedings/other legal proceedings should not be initiated for filing a false affidavit.

"Show cause notice be also issued to the IO who too has tried to mislead the court on the aforesaid aspect by remaining conspicuously silent regarding dismissal of the earlier bail application of the applicant," the judge said.

He also rapped the Delhi Police's "casual and mechanical approach" in filing the reply to Mann's plea, noting that it primarily relied upon the statement of a witness who had already been dropped by the prosecution in November 2024.

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