SC tells Britons to appear in police station in Paedophilia case

Two British nationals were on Monday told by the Supreme Court to appear in a police station in Mumbai twice a month till the appeal against their acquittal in a case of paedophilia was decided by it. Duncan Grant and Allan Jhon Waters, whose passports were deposited with the Mumbai police on the direction of the apex court, were ordered by a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, to appear in the Colaba Police station. The Bench also directed the two Britons to give an undertaking that they would not leave the country without the permission of the apex court which would hear the appeals against their acquittal in April. The Court on 1st August last year had virtually restrained them from leaving the country by asking them to deposit their passports with the Mumbai Police after an NGO had challenged their acquittal by the Bombay High Court on 23rd July, 2008. The apex court had admitted the appeals of the NGO and Maharashtra government and had sought responses from them as to why action should not be taken against them under section 390 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for their arrest pending an appeal filed against the acquittal. The provision provides that when an appeal is filed against an acquittal, a warrant can be issued by court directing that the accused be arrested and brought before it or the subordinate court pending the disposal of the appeal or admit him to bail. Senior advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for the NGO, Childline India Foundation, said that the accused, who were brought for trial only after an Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued, should give an undertaking to stay in India till the appeal is decided. He said the surrender of passport would not serve the purpose as when the case was registered against them they had fled the country despite the fact that their passports were deposited. He said it was the case where consent between the persons holds no ground as the offence relates to a children's home. To allay the apprehension that the foreign nationals could leave the country, the Chief Justice on 1st August, last had allowed the NGO to itself inform the British High Commission about the court order. Nariman said the High Court considered the case as one of the cases and nothing has been mentioned in the verdict that foreign nationals will have to stay in the country if an appeal was filed. The senior advocate said once they leave the country a tedious procedure would have to be followed for their extradition. The High Court had on 23rd July acquitted Grant and Waters of the charges of having sodomised boys staying in children's shelters. The shelter, called 'The Anchorage Shelter,' was set up by Grant. The duo had been sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment by a trial court. The NGO, a project of Ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment, has sought a stay on the High Court verdict acquitting them. In the Special Leave Petition, the NGO said both the accused were brought to India after Red Corner Notice was issued against them. While Grant was traced to Tanzania and later he had moved to England, Waters was arrested from the United States. Both of them allegedly tried not to stand trial in the case.

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