The Bench was hearing Wankhede’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR registered on the complaint of the local excise department. The allegation was that Wankhede was a minor when he was granted a licence for the bar and restaurant in October 1997. He was 17 years old then, far below the minimum stipulated age of 21 years.
Wankhede stated in his plea that he was wrongfully named in the FIR. He alleged that the FIR was a consequence of a witch-hunt launched against him because of his role in the arrest of Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law, and his investigations into Bollywood’s alleged drug usage.
He further claimed that he was 17 years old at the time, and that the law does not recognise a minor’s competence to commit a crime. He maintained he was only signing where his mother had requested him to sign.
He also drew the Court’s attention to the fact that, as a minor, he was completely unaware of the alleged offence and therefore, the most important component for invoking provisions of the Indian Penal Code, mens rea (criminal intent), was missing.
Source: Barandbench
