 Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 3: In a judgment bringing closure to a prolonged anti-corruption case, the Court of Special Judge, Anti-Corruption (CBI Cases), Kashmir, Srinagar Adnan Syeed, acquitted all three accused in the much-publicized Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar financial irregularities case, citing lack of direct evidence and material inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case.
The alleged accused — Ghulam Hassan Dar (Programme Executive), Bashir Ahmad Mir (Floor Manager), and Shahid Shabir (private producer) — were facing charges under Sections 120-B read with 420 of the Ranbir Penal Code and Sections 5(1)(d) r/w 5(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds from the morning show “Subhai Subhai” during 2008–09.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had filed the charge sheet in 2010, had accused the trio of issuing fraudulent contracts and siphoning off payments in the names of individuals and production banners who purportedly had no connection with Doordarshan. However, after extensive examination of over 50 prosecution witnesses and hundreds of documents, the court found the evidence to be “inconclusive and insufficient to sustain a conviction.”
While delivering the verdict, Special Judge CBI Srinagar Adnan Sayeed observed that most of the witnesses examined by the prosecution admitted to voluntarily providing their bank accounts for cheque deposits at the request of relatives or friends, many of whom were casual workers at DDK Srinagar. Crucially, several admitted that they had no knowledge of any wrongdoing at the time and believed the payments were legitimate.
The court also noted that many signatures alleged to be forged could not be conclusively attributed to the accused, and the prosecution failed to establish a clear chain of evidence linking the financial transactions to corrupt intent.
“The benefit of doubt must go to the accused when the prosecution fails to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,” the judge said in the ruling. (JNF) |
