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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has recently discharged a man who was charged with conspiring to transport two minors to the USA illegally.

The single judge bench of the high court comprising Justice Bharathi Dangre was hearing a revision plea filed by one of the accused whose application for discharge had been dismissed by the Sessions Court.

The case revolves around an investigation initiated by the BKC Police after receiving a complaint letter from the Consulate General of the United States of America.

The letter detailed the visa application of one Mrs. Nirmala Qureshi, who had applied for U.S. visas for herself and her two children, Sara and Adiv. Since the children were under 14, they were not required to attend the visa interview.

The letter also mentioned that Nirmala had made reference to a U.S. visa for her husband, Azhar. However, upon checking the database, it was discovered that his visa had been revoked due to material misrepresentation.

The Consulate General alleged that the two minors had never travelled to the USA, and Nirmala had transported an unknown boy and girl using her children's passports. She later returned to India, leaving the two minors residing illegally in the USA.

The high court found that the applicant's role was restricted to booking the flight tickets through a company. Witness statements indicated that round-trip tickets were booked, but subsequently, the applicant was instructed to cancel the return tickets.

The high court regarded the mere cancellation of the return tickets not to be considered as a suspicious circumstance.

“I do not think that mere cancellation of the return ticket is suspicious circumstance, as it is possible that the passenger might make a request to cancel the ticket of a particular date, but that itself would not amount to an offence, if upon such request, the ticket is cancelled and in fact, the cancellation is by Tabrej, and according to him, it is at the instance of the present Applicant,” the order states.

The high court also observed that the man could not be held responsible for conspiring to transport the two minor children to the USA.

“In absence of any material that the Applicant had knowledge about the conspiracy and of transporting the two children to America by the main accused, I do not think that he can be held responsible for committing an offence under Section 120-B of the IPC, as it is alleged that conspiracy was hatched for transporting the minor children and the concerned C.R. has invoked Sections 419, 420, 465, 468, 471 alongwith Section 370 of the IPC against the main accused-Nirmala Qureshi,” the order stated.

Case title: Zakir Yusuf Shaikh vs State of Maharashtra