The Gujarat High Court has ordered a probe into the custodial torture of two couples belonging to a Denotified Tribe.
While ordering probe, the High Court has come down heavily on the state police for being “swayed by the fact that the petitioners belong to a particular community.”
Justice Nikhil Kariel was hearing a special criminal application filed by two couples involving “extreme excess” by the police authorities including senior officers of the level of DySP and SP who were responsible for conducting an impartial inquiry, Live Law reported.
According to the petitioners, the police tortured the four individuals, two men and two women until they confessed to an alleged crime, and then booked them in four other undetected cases.
The judge said: “This court is of the prima facie opinion that this is a clear case of extreme excess by the concerned police authorities and whereas even senior officers of the level of Dy SP (deputy superintendent of police) and SP (superintendent of police), who were supposed to hold an impartial inquiry, have just conducted a sham inquiry maybe in order to protect their subordinates.”
The Court noted that the couples, members of a certain community, were earning their living through honest occupation when an FIR was filed against two unknown males and unknown females.
Live Law report read: “According to the inquiry conducted by Respondent No. 6, the Petitioners 1 and 2 (brothers) were passing on a motorbike and were intercepted by the police. When they did not stop, they slipped and were caught by the police. It was observed that the only evidence against the Petitioners was their own confession which was used for submitting the chargesheet. Subsequently, the charges against the Petitioners did not stand during trial.”
The judge also observed that the couples were cultivating cotton on certain land and the ornaments and money recovered from them were borne of their earnings and were not connected to the proceeds of the crime.
The Court further asked the state government to respond on compensation due to the victims.
“As this court finds that prima facie the petitioners appear to have been falsely implicated in approximately 05 FIRs and whereas the petitioners have undergone pain, agony and suffering on account of a wrong investigation, the term wrong is used since this court has ordered an inquiry but the fact of the petitioners having been arrested, the fact of the petitioners having beaten up by police, the fact of the petitioners having been acquitted by the concerned Trial Courts cannot be ignored or overlooked,” the judge said.
All four belong to the DNT Devipujak community, and live in Tagdi village, Ahmedabad district.
According to Deccan Herald, one of the women was pregnant at the time of the arrest, while the other had two young children and the two women had a terrible time in custody.
“These two women faced a lot of hardship as they were dragged from one police station to another for months before being sent to jail in false cases. The policemen targeted them for being poor and uneducated. We have sought an investigation against the erring cops and exemplary compensation from the state,” Hardik Jani, the petitioners’ lawyer said to the newspaper.
The matter will be heard again on April 12.
