Court turns down plea to charge ‘imposters’

A court has rejected the Delhi Police’s plea to frame charges against a woman who along with her husband and one other person was accused of approaching the US Embassy for visas by impersonating as Congress leaders.

A court has rejected the Delhi Police’s plea to frame charges against a woman who along with her husband and one other person was accused of approaching the US Embassy for visas by impersonating as Congress leaders.

HT Image

The complaint was filed before the police by the personal secretary of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi alleging that some people had contacted the US Embassy by falsely claiming to be representatives of the Congress party and its chief Sonia Gandhi for visas in December 2006.

The police approached the sessions court challenging the order of a magistrate who had discharged Sapna Arora and Rajiv Arora of the charge of cheating by impersonating. The magistrate, however, had put on trial the third accused and Sapna’s husband, Manoj Kumar Arora, for offence of cheating by impersonating. The magistrate had discharged Sapna and Rajiv saying that there was no sufficient evidence to proceed against them.

The police challenged the trial court’s order acquitting them on the grounds that recovery of mobile/SIM number attributed to Sapna was sufficient to raise suspicion against her that she had impersonated as Dalmia.

It said the magistrate had “failed to appreciate mere suspicion alone against the accused was sufficient to warrant framing of charges against her along with her husband Manoj”. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma upheld the trial court’s order of discharging the two accused in the case.