A city court today discharged AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a 2010 case in which he was accused of threatening and obstructing labour department officers from rescuing child labourers from zari units in south Delhi, while it pulled up the police for its "lethargic" investigation.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal absolved Khan and another person of the offences in the case in which 15 child labourers were being rescued by the police and and NGO from Batla House, Jamia Nagar here.

"I would like to say that the time taken by the police to investigate the case proved to be fatal to the case of the prosecution. Further, the investigation has been done in a belated, lethargic and lackadaisical manner over a prolonged period of time," the magistrate said.

An FIR was registered in Jamia Nagar police station on November 1, 2010 on the complaint of then sub-division magistrate, who was leading a rescue team of child labourers in that area.

The complaint was based on a note of the labour officer. The police had filed a charge sheet in 2016 and a court had taken cognisance of the same.

"The well choreographed charge sheet has been filed by the police against accused persons, Amanatullah Khan and Saifiullah Siddiqui, for commission of offence under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 363(kidnapping) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC," the magistrate noted while discharging the accused.

The court said that cognisance of the charge sheet should not have been taken as it was filed after six years of lodging of the FIR, much beyond the time period permissible under law.

"For all these offences, the limitation period for filing the charge sheet was three years but the charge sheet was filed after five years...Therefore, I'm of the view that cognisance of offences under sections 186, 353 AND 506 of the IPC was barred by the law of limitation," the court said.

The FIR had said 15 child labourers were rescued by the authorities from different zari units in a joint raid launched in Batla House area by a task force on elimination of child labour, sub-divisional magistrate, officials of the Labour Department, the Delhi Police and child rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) on November 1, 2010.

The children were taken to a vehicle of the NGO, but the accused (Khan) and others obstructed them from taking the children away, shouted at the authorities and had an altercation with labour department officials, it was alleged.

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