Mumbai Court Orders Crime Branch to Secure Custody of Accused Anmol Bishnoi

A special MCOCA court in Mumbai on Friday criticized the Mumbai Police Crime Branch for its inaction and directed the agency to take immediate legal steps to secure the custody of Anmol Bishnoi, the main accused in the October 2024 murder of former minister Baba Siddiqui.

Special Judge Satyanaran R Navander ordered the investigating agency to "scrupulously follow the law" and submit a compliance report on or before the next hearing date on July 24.

Anmol Bishnoi, who is alleged to be the principal accused who ordered the shooting of Siddiqui, is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail. He was deported from the United States last November and taken into custody in connection with a 2022 case involving an alleged nexus between criminal gangs and the terrorist organization Babbar Khalsa International.

The court's directions came during a hearing on a plea filed by Baba Siddiqui’s wife, Shehzeen Siddique. Her advocates, Pradip Gharat and Trivankumar Karnani, argued that the police must take immediate steps to arrest Bishnoi so he can be put on trial alongside 27 other accused individuals who have already been chargesheeted under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The plea alleged that the police were avoiding taking Bishnoi into custody to prevent the names of the actual conspirators from being revealed.

In a seven-page order, Judge Navander noted that the Crime Branch had made no efforts to secure the presence of the absconding accused despite knowing he was in Tihar Jail. The judge stated that securing custody, conducting investigations, and placing the accused on trial are the exclusive responsibilities of the law enforcement authorities, warning that inaction could prejudice the prosecution.

Although the prosecution argued that physical custody was essential and that proceeding without it would delay the trial for the other arrested accused, the judge rejected this stance. He pointed out that video conferencing has become an integral part of the judicial process and is regularly utilized by trial courts and correctional institutions nationwide.

The judge concluded that the investigating agency cannot indefinitely postpone proceedings against the principal accused and compromise the larger interests of justice.