The delay in probing a case due to "lethargy" of police "has led to the "collapse" of the criminal justice system, the Delhi High Court today said while reserving its verdict on a batch of pleas filed by three terror suspects.
"The collapse of criminal justice system is attributable to the lethargy of police in investigating criminal cases," a bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Mukta Gupta said.
The observation came during the hearing of five separate petitions filed by Wasim Akram Malik, the sole arrested accused in the September 2011 Delhi High Court blast and Syed Maqbool and Imran Khan, alleged IM operatives who are facing trial in another terror case.
Malik has sought grant of statutory bail on the ground that the police has failed to conclude the investigation and file a complete charge sheet within the stipulated period of 90 days.
The period, however, was later extended to 180 days by the trial court at the request of National Investigation Agency (NIA).
It has been alleged that the extension of probe time from 90 to 180 days was without any valid legal ground and an "incomplete" charge sheet has been filed to deny bail to the accused, Mehmood Pracha, appearing for Malik said.
Besides Malik, Syed Maqbool and Imran Khan, who have been booked by NIA in 2012 in a separate case for allegedly conspiring to plan terror attacks across the country, also sought their release in bail on similar ground.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for NIA, opposed the plea saying the probe agency took "abundant caution" while seeking extension of time for probing the case.
"These are not small and simple cases and you may find something new against the accused against whom the charge sheet has already been filed," the ASG said.
The terror suspects have alleged that the trial court order, extending the period of 90 days to 180 days under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for completion of the investigation, is "unreasoned".
