Bombay HC Upholds Invocation of MCOCA Against Accused in Gambling Case
The Bombay High Court recently upheld invocation of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against a few people arrested in a gambling den raid in Kolhapur district of western Maharashtra in April 2019.
The den was allegedly run by Salim Mullah, who had charges like dacoity, extortion and betting filed against him. His wife and aides allegedly attacked the police during the raid. During the probe of the case, the police later realised that under the veil of the gamling den the co-accused were helping Mullah run an organized crime syndicate.
The police invoked MCOCA and IPC sections against the accused. It is difficult to get bail under MCOCA. The police accused those arrested of helping Mullah in illegal transfer of money and in running his betting operations and organised crime syndicate.
As per a report in Outlook, twelve of the accused filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the invocation of MCOCA by the police, claiming that they were not a part of any crime syndicate. The petitioner also said that the police could have invoked the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act that has a maximum punishment of two years of imprisonment.
On Tuesday, Chief Justice B P Dharmadhikari and N R Borkar passed a ruling saying that the police can invoke MCOCA if one or more accused have faced cognisable offences with a punishment of imprisonment of three years or more in the past.
In the case, the high court recognised that even though gambling is not an organised crime, "it was very likely that it intersected with organised crime and aided organized crime syndicates in their activities.”
"Though the gambling by itself may not be an organized crime, however, an organized crime syndicate may take recourse to it as one of its profit making ventures. It may support in contract killing, abduction or dacoity or other similar offences along with gambling," the court said.
The Bombay High Court dismissed the petitions filed by the 12 accused. It said that the MCOCA court can determine during trial if the petitioners were part of an organised crime syndicate.
Read more online gambling news in India.
