NEW DELHI, Oct 17:
Five alleged Sikh militants accused of hijacking an Air India plane to Pakistan in 1981 and were deported back to India after serving life term faced the prospect of being declared proclaimed offenders by a Delhi court if they fail to appear before it on December 3.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sameer Bajpai ordered initiation of proceedings under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Proceedings (CrPC) to declare the five accused—Tajender Pal Singh, Satnam Singh, Gajender Singh, Karan Singh Kini and Jasbir Singh Jima—absconding.
Under Section 82 of the CrPC if the court has a reason to believe that the accused is absconding or concealing himself, it orders the prosecution to publish notice about the accused or publicly announce or affix information about them near their house or public places for making them appear in court.
The judge said since the NBWs issued against them could not be executed at the addresses recorded in the police file, he was satisfied that a case has been made out under Section 82 to initiate the process of declaring them absconding.
“NBWs against all accused persons remained unexecuted. After going through the report, I am satisfied that the accused persons have absconded. Process under Section 82 CrPC (proclamation for person absconding) be issued against them for December 3,” the magistrate said.
The accused, who were deported to India in 2000, had moved applications seeking discharge from the case registered here but the court after refusing their plea continued with the criminal proceedings.
The court had issued non-bailable warrants against them, which could not be executed as they remained untraceable.
The case against the five dates back to September 29, 1981 when they hijacked an Air India plane from New Delhi to Srinagar and forced it to land in Pakistan, where they were arrested and put on trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The NBWs against the five accused were issued by the court in pursuance of a sessions court order which had earlier asked their fresh trial here in the same hijacking case of 1981, but for different offences arising out of it.
The warrants were issued after the court had taken cognisance of the Delhi police chargesheet, which was filed against the five in 2011 on the sessions court’s order.
The Delhi Police has filed charges under Sections 121 (waging war against Government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against the five. (PTI)
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