NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded Gujarat police over the flogging of five Muslim men after tying them to a pole in full public view in Kheda district in 2022, terming the conduct “unacceptable” and asking angrily from where they drew the authority to take such an action. While hearing a plea filed by four cops who were convicted and sentenced to 14-day jail by Gujarat HC for contempt, the court asked, “What kind of atrocities are these? Then you want this court to intervene,” adding that the four should go to jail.
Ignorance of law can’t be defence for law-enforcers: SC
Go and enjoy custody. You will be guests of your own officers. They will give you special treatment, Justice Gavai told the Gujarat cops.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, however, pleaded that the cops were already facing criminal prosecution and departmental proceedings for their misdeeds and raised question on how could HC proceed against them under contempt jurisdiction as there was no wilful disobedience of apex court’s order and guidelines in D K Basu case.
Dave said there had to be a wilful disobedience of the court’s judgment and they should also know about the judgment to establish contempt. But the bench said ignorance of law cannot be a defence for law-enforcing officials and every police officer must know the law as laid down in D K Basu case.
The bench, however, agreed to hear their plea and and extended the stay on conviction and sentence awarded by Gujarat high court.
In October last year, Gujarat HC sentenced the cops to 14-day imprisonment, with a fine of Rs 2,000, in the contempt of court case. The convicts — police inspector A V Parmar, PSI D B Kumawat, head constable K L Dabhi and constable Raju Dabhi — of Kheda’s Matar police station had thrashed five men for allegedly throwing stones at a crowd during Navratra celebrations in Undhela village.
Holding them guilty, HC had said that action of the police officers amounted to crime against humanity. “The fact that the complainants were tied to a pole and flogged in public, indicates that the problem is not limited to Undhela village but has spread beyond,” court had said.
“If government officials breach the law, it will generate contempt for law and encourage lawlessness, and every man will have the urge to become a law unto himself, leading to anarchy. No civilised nation can allow such a thing to happen…” HC had observed.
Ignorance of law can’t be defence for law-enforcers: SC
Go and enjoy custody. You will be guests of your own officers. They will give you special treatment, Justice Gavai told the Gujarat cops.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, however, pleaded that the cops were already facing criminal prosecution and departmental proceedings for their misdeeds and raised question on how could HC proceed against them under contempt jurisdiction as there was no wilful disobedience of apex court’s order and guidelines in D K Basu case.
Dave said there had to be a wilful disobedience of the court’s judgment and they should also know about the judgment to establish contempt. But the bench said ignorance of law cannot be a defence for law-enforcing officials and every police officer must know the law as laid down in D K Basu case.
The bench, however, agreed to hear their plea and and extended the stay on conviction and sentence awarded by Gujarat high court.
In October last year, Gujarat HC sentenced the cops to 14-day imprisonment, with a fine of Rs 2,000, in the contempt of court case. The convicts — police inspector A V Parmar, PSI D B Kumawat, head constable K L Dabhi and constable Raju Dabhi — of Kheda’s Matar police station had thrashed five men for allegedly throwing stones at a crowd during Navratra celebrations in Undhela village.
Holding them guilty, HC had said that action of the police officers amounted to crime against humanity. “The fact that the complainants were tied to a pole and flogged in public, indicates that the problem is not limited to Undhela village but has spread beyond,” court had said.
“If government officials breach the law, it will generate contempt for law and encourage lawlessness, and every man will have the urge to become a law unto himself, leading to anarchy. No civilised nation can allow such a thing to happen…” HC had observed.
