COURT DISPLEASED OVER MAKING RELATIVES OF THE ACCUSED WITNESSES IN A POSCO CASE

COURT DISPLEASED OVER MAKING RELATIVES OF THE ACCUSED WITNESSES IN A POSCO CASE

1-OCT-ENG 3

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

BUXAR-------------------------The court of Amit Kumar Sharma, Special Judge (POCSO) and Additional District & Sessions Judge-VI, has expressed displeasure over the inclusion of the accused persons' relatives as prosecution witnesses in a POCSO case. Questioning the working style of the investigating officer, the court directed that a copy of the order be sent to the Buxar Superintendent of Police (SP) for appropriate action.

The matter pertains to POCSO Case No. 82/2025, linked to SC/ST Police Station Case No. 14/2025. The trial for the case—*State vs. Akash Chaudhary & Others*—is currently underway. An application was filed on behalf of the prosecution requesting the removal of four names from the list of witnesses.

The prosecution's application stated that the four witnesses in question are relatives of the accused. Furthermore, in their statements recorded under Section 180 of the BNSS, they did not support the prosecution's case.

During the hearing, the court observed that citing the accused's family members as prosecution witnesses raised serious questions regarding the investigation process. The order characterized the investigating officer's conduct as amounting to professional misconduct. The investigating officer in this case was the then Station House Officer (SHO), Mona Kumari.

Allowing the prosecution's application, the court ruled that there was no longer a need to produce the concerned witnesses for examination. It also directed that a necessary note regarding this be made in the 'witnesses' column of the charge sheet. The next hearing for the presentation of prosecution evidence is scheduled for September 30.