A special court has refused to stay proceedings in the 2014 custodial death case of a 25-year-old youth allegedly by Wadala Government Railway Police (GRP) officials, until it decides whether the accused will face charges or not. of murder.
As the decision on the murder charges is pending in the Bombay High Court, the three accused have requested the trial court to postpone the proceedings. The court had on December 21 said that the case was pending for a long time and adjournment of the proceedings would not be sustainable.
The special court said in its order that the High Court’s decision on whether Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code can be invoked will be binding.
The case for calling for murder in this case has seen many changes.
In April 2014, Agnello Valdaris died in the custody of the Wadala GRP after being arrested for theft.
The police claimed that Valdaris tried to escape and died after colliding with a moving train. His co-accused at the time, including a minor, who was arrested with Valdaris, however, said they were physically and sexually abused by the police and that he was not in a position to flee.
The CBI, which took over the investigation, said there was no evidence to suggest murder and instead filed a chargesheet under relevant sections of the Child Protection Act for sexual abuse and rape.
In 2019, the High Court directed the trial court to frame charges against the eight accused for murder and destruction of evidence, refusing to accept the CBI’s arguments. In September 2022, the trial court held that the conduct of the police personnel was questionable and the accused could be tried for murder. After that, the High Court issued two separate orders in the said case.
In December 2022, a single-judge bench dismissed the plea of the accused setting aside the trial court’s order and the next in April 2023, the trial court’s order, holding that the police personnel cannot be charged with murder. In April 2024, the Supreme Court had directed the constitution of a larger bench or division bench in the high court to decide the case, as the previous two orders would conflict with each other. There has been no hearing in the High Court yet.
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