New Delhi: Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea by an alleged gangster claiming that he was coerced to sign documents, including a confession, in jail by police.Recently, the court was hearing a plea by Saleem Ahmed, an accused under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), arrested in a case linked to gangster Hashim Baba. Ahmed is accused of being part of an organised crime syndicate.
The court declined relief after the prosecution argued that Ahmed’s contention was already discarded earlier by a trial court as he willingly signed the papers, which was legally recorded.Ahmed was nabbed on Nov 4 in connection with an FIR registered in 2024 and stringent provisions of MCOCA were invoked.The accused, who is in judicial custody, moved court alleging that the authorities unauthorisedly, and without following due process, accessed his cell on the jail premises and coerced him to sign certain documents. His counsel argued that any document, statement or confession bearing such signatures, obtained through coercion, was illegal and had no validity.Even as a supplementary chargesheet against Ahmed was not yet filed, the accused did not challenge the legality of the arrest or remand. The counsel alleged that the petitioner was forcibly made to append his signature on blank and partially prepared documents, giving rise to a reasonable apprehension that the same were intended to be used to fabricate a purported confession under Section 18 of MCOCA.Such conduct fundamentally destroys the requirement of a voluntary and coercion-free atmosphere and renders the statutory safeguards under Section 18(6) illusory, the plea stated.
