Panaji: A special fast-track Pocso court returned a chargesheet to the CBI in a Pocso case, stating that its jurisdiction did not lie in Goa. The court directed the CBI to file it before the appropriate court. The CBI had charged Kundan Shah, a resident of Goregaon East, Mumbai, who earlier lived in Calangute, under the Information Technology Act and also the Pocso Act.Shah was accused of indulging in cultivation, enticement/inducement of children, online relationships, sexually explicit acts, and sexual harassment over the internet. It was also alleged that he indulged in demanding/seeking child abuse material/pornographic images from other foreign Instagram users he knew or believed to be minors through his Instagram account.
When the Goa public prosecutor was asked what the facts conferring jurisdiction upon the court were, the public prosecutor pointed out that he filled out a customer application form by which he obtained a SIM card showing a Goa address, and hence the jurisdiction lay with this court.“In the instant case, buying of a SIM card does not constitute an offence. The offence starts with the SIM card being misused. There is nothing on record to suggest that misuse of the SIM card started in Goa; therefore, this court will not have jurisdiction to proceed with the matter,” said the court’s presiding officer, Pooja Kavlekar.“The chargesheet is returned to the investigating officer with a direction to file it before the appropriate court. The investigating officer is to collect the chargesheet within 15 days,” she said.
