Court issues notices to CBI, accused in Nido Tania case

Plea against dropping charges under SC/ST Act

Taking exception to the trial court’s decision to drop charges under the SC/ST Act against four persons accused of killing Nido Tania, a 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh, in Lajpat Nagar here last year, the boy’s father has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the order.

The High Court on Friday issued notices to the CBI and the accused and asked them to file their replies within two weeks. The Court directed Tihar Jail Superintendent to serve notice on one of the accused, Farman, who is at present in judicial custody.

Justice Manmohan Singh of the High Court posted the matter for further hearing on April 22 after issuing notices. Other accused persons facing trial in the case are Pawan, Sunder Singh and Sunny Uppal, while a few others are minors.

Nido Tania’s father, Nido Pavitra, a Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh, has sought quashing of the Session Court’s order of September 25, 2014, holding that no charges could be framed against the accused under the relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Mr. Pavitra contended that the entire purpose of the legislation would be defeated if the “hyper technical view” adopted by the trial court was sustained. In the instant case, the insult, humiliation and assault heaped on Nido Tania was motivated solely by the knowledge that he belonged to a Scheduled Tribe, said the petitioner.

The trial court had refused to frame charges under the SC/ST Act despite the existence of prima facie material against the accused, said Mr. Pavitra, while contending that the impugned order was liable to be set aside. The maximum punishment under the SC/ST is life imprisonment.

Some men and shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar had assaulted Nido Tania on January 29, 2014, after an altercation over their remarks on his hair style. He was taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences the next day, where he was declared brought dead.

The police had initially booked the four adult accused under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, but the CBI, which later investigated the case, dropped the murder charges and invoked the SC/ST Act in its charge-sheet filed in the trial court. However, the court dropped the charges under the SC/ST Act, saying the prosecution had failed to establish the element of “racial slur”.

The insult, humiliation and assault heaped on Tania was motivated solely by the knowledge that he belonged to a Scheduled Tribe