Bishnoi among three discharged by Delhi court in extortion call case

A Delhi court has discharged gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and two others in a case related to an alleged Rs 1 crore extortion call, saying the prosecution failed to place sufficient material on record to establish the essential ingredients of the offences.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Nupur Gupta discharged Haren Sarapdadiya, Lawrence Bishnoi and Ashish Sharma in a case registered at the Sunlight Colony police station under Section 387 (putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt in an attempt to commit extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint by Raman Deep Singh. The complainant alleged that between the midnight of April 23 and 24, 2023, he began receiving calls from an unknown number threatening his life and demanding Rs 1 crore.

After investigation, the police filed a chargesheet against the accused under Sections 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt to themselves or another person) and 387 read with Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The court, however, noted that the offence of extortion under Section 386 IPC requires actual delivery of property induced by fear of death or grievous hurt, which was absent in the case. “Neither the complainant has alleged any delivery of property under threat nor the same has been alleged in the entire charge-sheet,” the court said in its order dated February 20.

It further observed that even for the offence under Section 387 of the IPC, the prosecution failed to show any “overt act” indicating that the accused had put the complainant in fear of death or grievous hurt.

“The complainant has merely alleged that he received calls from an unknown number demanding an amount of Rs 1 crore. On perusal of the complaint itself, it can be said that nothing has been mentioned at all about the physical act, rather it has simply been said he was asked to pay a particular sum of money,” the court said.

The judge also pointed out that investigators did not procure call records or collect other material evidence and that the case primarily relied on disclosure statements of the co-accused persons.

“Apart from the disclosure statement, there is no evidence on record to constitute the offence with which the accused persons have been chargesheeted,” the court said while ordering the discharge of the accused.

The court directed the accused to furnish bail bonds of Rs 20,000 with one surety each. On March 6, upon furnishing bail bonds, the trio was discharged.