Team Herald
PANJIM: The Supreme Court of India has directed that Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane face trial in the 2007 threat to kill case, filed by Advocate Aires Rodrigues.
Rodrigues had filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the High Court decision which had held that the Goa government had no powers to issue a notification making Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code cognizable.
Allowing the SLP, the Supreme Court set aside the July 21, 2010 order of a Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay at Goa which had quashed the indictment against Rane while holding that an offence under Sec 506 (threat to kill) of Indian Penal Code was non-cognizable.
Incidentally, Section 506 was made cognizable by a notification issued by the Goa Government in 1973 when Pratapsing Rane, father of Vishwajit, was the law minister. Over the years hundreds of persons have been indicted and prosecuted under that section.
However, when the Old Goa Police who were investigating the case, had filed an indictment under Sec 506, the Goa government took the stand that the section is non-cognizable.
Proposals were hurriedly moved on June 30, 2009 by then Advocate General of Goa Subodh Kantak to instruct all Public Prosecutors to withdraw cases filed under Sec 506 of IPC as the section was non-cognizable.
Rodrigues had complained that Rane had allegedly threatened to kill him on July 31, 2007 over the phone. The Old Goa Police in their indictment against Rane named nine witnesses including his wife.
