Mumbai: In a relief to Jigna Vora, who was granted bail in J Dey murder case last week, a special MCOCA court said in its order that evidence produced by the prosecution against her was not enough to keep her in jail.
Significantly, the judge remarked that "even the statements of the witnesses stating how desperately this accused was trying to contact Chhota Rajan are concerned, if the period mentioned in those statements is considered, that will fall short in support of allegation of transgressing her limits as journalist".
The forensic reports do not support the allegation that Ms Vora sent any information about Mr Dey, a fellow scribe, to Chhota Rajan, the court said.
Though the result of forensic analysis was awaited, considering the time lapsed after seizure of her phones, the court was not inclined to reject the bail application on that ground alone, the judge said. "Sufficient time was there at the disposal of the prosecution," said judge.
The court also said that the mere fact that Ms Vora was not in town at the time of Mr Dey's murder (June 11, 2011), that could not be said to be an incriminating circumstance.
Ms Vora, the deputy Chief of Bureau of a city-based English newspaper, was arrested on November 25 last year.
Police's theory is that fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan ordered Mr Dey's murder because he was upset with certain articles written by the senior journalist.
Ms Vora is accused of passing on key information such the registration number of Mr Dey's motorcycle and his address to Chhota Rajan.
The court also noted that Mr Dey and Ms Vora belonged to the same profession. "The incident of sending SMS - "Whether you are treating yourself as so clever" - cannot be considered as material unless corroborated by other materials," observed the court.
"The prosecution has not produced on record the exact data sent by Ms Vora to Rajan. There is no material either in the form of recording of statement or any other material thereby stating that they (witnesses) have seen Ms Vora sending the information to Rajan," the bail order said.
As per the intercepted communication, Rajan told a witness that "many persons are against Mr Dey, and Ms Vora again and again said that Mr Dey is gaddar (traitor)". Referring to this, the judge said that the gangster had not talked about receiving any information from Ms Vora in this conversation.
The court also said that it was not inclined to accept the disclosures made by two witnesses about Ms Vora's role as a conspirator at this stage.
As per the police chargesheet, Ms Vohra instigated the underworld don to kill Dey owing to her professional rivalry with him.