Delhi’s Saket court on Friday acquitted Lawrence Bishnoi and two others in a case related to an alleged attempt to extort Rs 1 crore from a lawyer. The court found that there was no evidence against the accused except their own statements.
The case pertains to calls for firing and extortion following an FIR lodged by Delhi Police in April 2023.
After completing the investigation, the Delhi Police Crime Branch had filed a chargesheet against Lawrence Bishnoi, Haren Sarpadia and Ashish Sharma. Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Nupur Gupta acquitted the three accused of extortion and related charges.
The court observed that the complainant had not made any allegation of handing over the property under threat, nor was it mentioned in the charge sheet. Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Nupur Gupta said on February 20, “Therefore, the accused are not liable for the offense punishable under Section 386 of the Indian Penal Code.”
The court further said that apart from the statements of the accused, there is no evidence on record to prove the offenses for which they were chargesheeted.
All three accused, Lawrence Bishnoi, Haren Sarpadia and Ashish Sharma, have been acquitted of offenses punishable under IPC sections 386 (intimidating a person to extort money or property) and 387 (punishment for extorting money), read with section 120B of the IPC.
The Court said, “To constitute the offense of extortion, actual delivery of property, money or valuable security by force of fear is necessary. Mere demand or threat, without delivery, is not sufficient.”
It said that in the present case, the complainant has only alleged that he received a call from an unknown number and a demand for Rs 1 crore. The court further said, “On a careful reading of the complaint, it can be said that nothing is mentioned about the physical act but it is only stated that he was asked to pay a certain amount.”
While acquitting the accused, the Court emphasized that the prosecution had not alleged that any property was actually handed over to the accused, which is an essential element of the offenses under Section 386 IPC. The complainant in this case, Raman Deep Singh, lodged an FIR at Sunlight Colony Police Station. The complaint states that on the night of April 23-24, 2023, he started receiving calls from an unknown number, demanding Rs 1 crore from him.
The complainant alleged that he initially ignored the calls, but after receiving multiple calls from the same number and death threats, he lodged a formal complaint. After this, FIR was registered under section 387 of IPC.
After investigation, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police filed a charge sheet against the four accused under sections 386 and 387 of the Indian Penal Code read with section 120B. The Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) argued that the prosecution has successfully placed all the material facts on record, thereby prima facie establishing the liability of the accused for the crimes.
However, the counsel for the accused argued that the accused were not named in the FIR and no recovery had been made from their possession. He argued that the arrests were made only on the basis of statements of the co-accused, hence he should be acquitted.
Earlier, while taking cognizance of the case, the court had observed, “There is sufficient evidence on record which prima facie proves that accused Lawrence Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra, Ashish Sharma and Haren Sarpadia have committed offenses punishable under Sections 386 and 387 IPC read with Section 120B. Accordingly, cognizance is taken.”
