Delhi court orders FIR against cops in custodial torture case

New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) A Delhi court has set aside a magisterial court order and ordered FIR against several officials of Shahbad Dairy Police Station in an alleged custodial torture case.

Additional Sessions Judge Jagmohan Singh was hearing the plea of one Meenakshi, who sought an FIR against several police officials for torturing her husband, Naveen alias Monu.

A magisterial court dismissed her plea in August 2019.

In an order dated May 21, the sessions court said that the order deserved to be set aside as the relevant CCTV footage and call detail records needed analysis in a government forensic lab, which was beyond the complainant's and victim's reach.

Besides, the complainant and victim were ordinary citizens, while the accused were all police officials, the court said.

The court added, "As per allegations, victim Naveen was tortured by the accused police officials to commit extortion, and in view of the seriousness and gravity of the allegations, a thorough investigation is required to unearth the exact role played by the accused police officials in the commission of the alleged offences." The sessions court noted there was "more to the present case than what meets the eye".

"Two enquiries conducted by higher police officials into the present allegations have found that allegations of custodial torture upon Naveen during police custody could not be ruled out," the court added.

Referring to a 1997 verdict of the Supreme Court, the court said custodial torture was "a naked violation of human dignity and degradation, which destroyed, to a very large extent, the individual personality, and whenever human dignity was wounded, civilisation took a step backwards".

The court said the mandate of the apex court where inhuman or degrading torture was held to be violative of Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution appeared to have been violated, and the allegation against the police officials was "grave and serious".

Allowing the plea, the court directed the station house officer concerned to register the FIR within a week.

"A copy of this order also be sent to the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) concerned, who may consider that the official not below the rank of ACP is appointed to investigate the present matter in a time-bound manner," the court said.

The woman’s plea sought the FIR against police station’s chowki-in-charge Punit Grewal, investigating officer Praveen Kumar, head constable Krishna, some unknown police personnel and doctor S N Siddharth of Maharishi Valmiki Hospital. PTI MNR MNR AMK AMK