No relief to man accused of illegally extracting petrol from pipeline: HC

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by a man accused of illegally digging up a tunnel to extract petrol from a pipeline going out of Mathura refinery to Delhi and selling fuel in the open market by utilising it in his petrol pump.

Refusing to interfere in the charge sheet filed against petitioner Sujeet Pradhan, justice JJ Munir observed: “Petrol produced by Mathura oil refinery is a national asset and the very thought of boring a tunnel to illegally extract it is no routine offence.”

“As the evidence has been collected, the systematic manner in which the entire operation has been planned to get access to the petrol supply line is a pernicious act involving the security of the State,” the court said.

Terming the offence as grave, the court declined to interfere in the case.

“This court, in the exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) cannot hold, as if it were a trial before the trial. It is for the trial court to go into the evidence and come to its independent con- clusion about the guilt or otherwise of the accused,” it added.

The petitioner had sought quashing of the proceedings of an FIR lodged against him in Mathura.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that Pradhan had been falsely implicated in the case as he was a member of the party in opposition.

A criminal case is pending against Pradhan in the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate (III), Mathura.

Pradhan had bought a plot near Ram Krishna Vihar Colony, Mathura.

Later, it transpired that the petitioner, in connivance with the co-accused, dug a tunnel and illegally tapped the petroleum pipeline from where he illegally extracted petrol and sold it in an unauthorised manner.

A CRIMINAL CASE IS PENDING AGAINST PRADHAN IN THE COURT OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE (III), MATHURA.