E-Paper
Failure to respect court decorum: ACP faces contempt in Agra, explanation sought
Taking a strong view of the behaviour of the assistant commissioner of police (Chhatta) and comments against the decorum of a court, a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act court in Agra has directed the ACP to remain present in person on the next date and explain why she should not be punished for contempt of court
Taking a strong view of the behaviour of the assistant commissioner of police (Chhatta) and comments against the decorum of a court, a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act court in Agra has directed the ACP to remain present in person on the next date and explain why she should not be punished for contempt of court.
The matter relates to a hearing on July 16 in a rape case before the Special Judge (Pocso) Agra, Sonika Chaudhary. The court was hearing the case and ACP (Chhatta), Shweta Verma, appeared before it as she is the investigating officer in the case.
The survivor was found to be 33-week pregnant and accused Arpit Baghel was detained. The counsel for the complainant had moved an application for a DNA test of the accused on the previous date and the court allowed the application, ordering the collection of the accused’s sample in the district jail.
However there was a delay in sample collection and the matter was taken up on July 16 at the court of the special judge (Pocso) Act in Agra. The order passed by the court said ACP Shweta Verma appeared before the court and was asked about the delay in collecting the DNA sample of the accused in jail.
In her reply, the ACP said: “Hamein aur bhi kaam rehte hain…Aapne hamein yahan bula liya’ (I have other work too, but the court ordered me to appear before it).”
As the reply did not go well with it, the court observed that the ACP did not follow the protocol in the court and made no gesture of respect towards it saying “Hum kara lenge DNA’ (We will get the DNA test done). This, according to the court, reflected the mindset of the ACP towards courts.
The court ordered registration of a miscellaneous case under section 384 of BNSS for contempt offences and ordered the ACP to remain present in person before it on July 24 and submit a written explanation as to why she be not punished for offence of contempt under section 267 of the BNS.
The copy of the order was forwarded to the commissioner, Agra Police, who was required to ensure supervision of the matter by some senior official.
