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A special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act on Tuesday acquitted former additional sessions judge J W Singh arrested on charges of involvement in an extortion case in connivance with the Mumbai underworld.
Designated judge Abhay Thipsay, who ordered the police to release Singh immediately, delivered the verdict.
Singh, booked under MCOCA, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code, was arrested on March 20, 2000.
The police had alleged that Singh had hired Pakistan-based Chhota Shakeel to recover his deposit to the tune of Rs 4 million from a chit fund operator Sardar Singh Abrol.
Reacting to the judgment, Singh said the police threw him behind bars for 'vindictive reasons' and misused MCOCA, describing it as a 'police raj'. He said the favourable judgment proved that he had not committed any crime.
He added, "I have served the judiciary for 20 years without any stigma."
Initially suspended, Singh was dismissed by the Maharashtra government on the advice of the Chief Justice of the Bombay high court on September 22, 2000, after the police claimed to have recorded in March-April 1999 three telephonic talks between Singh, Karachi-based don Chhota Shakeel and deceased lawyer Liyakat Ali Shaikh.
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