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Forest official assault case: Ambala court points to police lapses, terms DFO’s arrest unjustified
Ramit Khattar, a nephew of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and a local BJP worker, Rajat Malik, are eyewitnesses as they were present at the chief conservator of forests (north circle) G Raman’s office when the alleged manhandling took place.
An Ambala court has granted bail to Kurukshetra divisional forest officer (DFO) Virender Singh Gill, accused of manhandling chief conservator of forests (north circle) G Raman earlier this month, saying the reasons cited for his arrest are not sustainable and unjustified.
Gill, accused by his senior Raman of attacking him at his office in Ambala City’s Company Bagh for refusing to sign tenders, was granted bail by the court of judicial magistrate first class Anita Rani on December 17.
The order was made available on December 22.
The court said that in such cases, the police have to be further satisfied that the arrest is necessary to prevent such a person from committing any further offence or tampering with evidence. The prosecution had asked for a judicial remand of the accused.
“This court is of the view that reasons mentioned for the arrest of the accused are not tenable. Reasons and material have not been mentioned by the investigation officer on the basis of which the police officer reached the conclusion mentioned by him. The alleged occurrence is of December 7; medical examination was conducted on December 8, while the FIR was registered on December 9 and the accused has been produced today (December 17). After a lapse of six days, the accused, who is a public servant, was arrested. Documents produced on file reveal no efforts were made by the investigating officer to ensure the accused joined investigation by issuing him a notice,” the order read.
The court also referred to the case of Arnesh Kumar Vs State of Bihar in the Supreme Court and said, “The guidelines prescribed in the case and provisions of Section 41 of the CrPC have also not been followed. Thus, the arrest made by the investigating officer is not justified.”
On December 18, Hindustan Times reported how Ramit Khattar, a nephew of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and a local BJP worker, Rajat Malik, were eyewitnesses and were present at Raman’s office when the alleged manhandling took place. Both admitted they were at his office on December 7 for the redressal of Malik’s complaint when the incident occurred.
