Malwani man booked twice for same offence

The trio allegedly encroached the collector’s land and built several huts on it. Representation pic

The Malwani police have booked a man twice within three years for the same offense, which is against the Constitution. In the second FIR filed last week, police have added names of two more people, including a UP resident who died last year.

Sources said that on the complaint of a divisional officer of the Borivli tahsildar office, police on January 5 booked Triloknath Tiwari alias Algu, Babumiyan Sardar and Shashi Dubey for allegedly encroaching a collector's land in Malwani.

Divisional Officer Santosh Lokare along with other employees visited the spot on December 27 after the tahsildar office received a complaint. While enquiring, the locals told them that the huts belonged to the trio. Lokare then lodged a complaint.

Triloknath Tiwari, the man booked twice on the same offence; The death certificate of another accused is named in the second FIR

Malwani police registered a case under Sections 441 (whoever enters into or upon property in the possession of another with intent to commit an offence), 447 (criminal trespass), and 120 (whoever, intending to facilitate or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby facilitate the commission of an of¬fence punishable with imprisonment) of the IPC. No one has been arrested as the offense is bailable, said an officer.

‘Complainant-cops nexus'

Speaking with mid-day, accused Tiwari said, "In January 2019, on the complaint of the collector's office, Malwani police registered a case and arrested me on the charge of illegal possession of the same land... Now, they have filed another FIR for the same offense. Some mischievous elements are doing this with the intention of extorting by misleading the government machinery."

His lawyer, advocate Vijay Shukla, said, "Malwani police's action against my client amounts to double jeopardy. It appears that Malwani police station hasn't gone through its own records before filing another FIR. They had filed a frivolous FIR in 2019, too, and arrested him under Section 447 of the IPC for the same offense. While he was released on bail, police even filed a charge sheet in the 2019 case. It clearly reveals the nexus between the complainant and the police," said.

Expert Speak

"No person can be tried and prosecuted twice for the same offense, states Article 20 of the Constitution. It is expected that the top officers will take cognisance of the matter and conduct a probe against its errant police personnel," said advocate Karan Mertia.

Tahsildar Speak

Dubey, a contractor, had gone to his native village in Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh during the second COVID-19 wave and died from the disease on April 30, 2021.
Tahsildar Vinod Dhotre said, "A complaint was filed against the three men on the basis of the information collected during the visit to the encroached land... We are not aware that any of the accused named in the FIR has died."

An officer from Malwani police station said, "We have registered a case against people whose names were given to us by the concerned authority."

2019
Year the first FIR was filed