Author: HT Correspondent
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: May 10, 2003
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_249676,0006.htm
The Supreme Court on Friday set
aside the Delhi High Court's order on the Parliament attack case, where
it had held that intercepted telephonic conversation between the accused
was not admissible as evidence under POTA (because the 'evidence' was collected
before the case was registered under POTA).
A bench comprising Justice S.N.
Variava and Justice Brijesh Kumar said that the merit of the evidence and
its admissibility was open for argument before the Delhi High Court, which
was hearing the statutory appeal filed by the accused against the trial
court order convicting them.
The high court had passed the order
on a petition by co-accused Afsan Guru, who was sentenced to five years
imprisonment.
Counsel for the Delhi Police - which
had submitted tapes of the telephone conversations as evidence - had argued
that it was only after the police intercepted the calls that they realised
that terrorists were involved, and only then invoked POTA. Therefore, they
should be allowed to use the tapes as evidence under POTA.
