’18 call data ‘theft’: No specific role shown, top private eye discharged | Mumbai News
Thane: Holding that there was a complete absence of evidence and no prima facie case made out against her, a magistrate court discharged India’s best known woman private detective, Rajani Pandit, in a 2018 case of alleged illegal procurement of call detail records (CDRs).The arrest of Pandit, touted as the country’s first female private eye, in 2018 had drawn widespread attention, given her much-storied 40-year career and public profile. Pandit was charged under Section 420 of IPC for cheating, along with provisions of IT Act. She spent 40 days in custody before being released on bail. Throughout the proceedings, she maintained she was falsely implicated and that no unlawful material was ever recovered from her. The court observed that a perusal of the FIR, the chargesheet and the complaint showed that there was nothing on record attributing any specific role to Pandit. It examined the statements of witnesses and found that most did not even refer to her. Even in the statements of those who mentioned her, the magistrate found nothing incriminating against her. The court also relied on the search and seizure panchnama, which recorded that no adverse or incriminating material was found.Advocate Poonam Jadhav, appearing for Pandit, said she has worked as a private detective for several years to assist people in need and did not use any CDRs for personal gain or wrongful purposes. The court held that the law mandates discharge when the charge is found to be groundless. It said if the material placed by the prosecution does not disclose even a strong suspicion against the accused, continuation of proceedings would be unjustified and amount to unnecessary harassment and abuse of law. It clarified that the order refers to Pandit alone and does not affect the proceedings against the remaining accused. A “very happy” Pandit told TOI: “This was a long and difficult journey, but truth finally prevailed. I had faith in the judicial system.” In 2018, Thane crime branch said it had unearthed a large-scale racket involving alleged theft and sale of CDRs. Police arrested 16 persons, including private detectives, hackers and intermediaries. The probe drew attention after a celebrity lawyer was named among the accused, with police alleging sensitive phone logs were sourced through compromised police and telecom systems. The probe was later marred by controversies.
