Delhi court pulls up cops for ‘high-handedness, misadventure’ during arrest of murder suspect

A Delhi court on Saturday came down heavily on the Delhi police on their way of arresting a man, accused in a murder case, even when he had obtained a surrender

A Delhi court on Saturday came down heavily on the Delhi police on their way of arresting a man, accused in a murder case, even when he had obtained a surrender order from the court to join the investigation after he alleged that he, along with his counsel, were assaulted when he had come to the jail for surrender. The judge said that it is a “clear case of misadventure on the part of investigating agency”.

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Duty magistrate Raghav Sharma said that power of arrest cannot be used as a force for threatening the accused in any manner. It directed the Deputy Police commissioner (DCP) of the concerned district to sensitize its staff on the procedure to be followed for arrest.

“The power of arrest with the police authority is given with responsibility as well as sense of duty on their part. The power of arrest cannot in any manner be used as a force for threatening the accused. While there is no doubt that the power of arrest is very much necessary for proper investigation of the case, has to be used with proper reasons and with proper adherence to the procedure established by law,” the court said.

The court was hearing an application by a man, Karthik @Chhota Madhu, who through his counsel Purushendra Bhardwaj, had contended that he was assaulted by 2-3 unknown people when he had gone to surrender himself in the Tihar jail complex. The plea had said that all these persons in plain clothes “pounded” on the man and his lawyer and later took him away in a car.

The application also stated that the manhandling took place within the compound near Water Park of the Tihar jail complex.

On December 25, the court had made preliminary enquiry and had also tried to reach out the Investigating Officer of the case, after it was informed by a CRPF official on duty that the persons who had assaulted Karthik and his counsel were police officials.

The official also told the court that the persons who had assaulted the man were police officials while also confirming that they had manhandled the accused and his lawyer when they had gone to surrender.

“On being questioned whether entries were made in the register of those police persons (whose IDs were checked by him), he (CRPF official) replied in negative stating that those persons entered a few minutes before the entry of accused and his counsel and therefore, there was no time for making entry in the register as the place of making entry is 10 -15 steps away from the gate where he was present,” the court noted in its order of December 25.

On Friday, when the court tried to reach out to the Investigating Officer (IO), his phone was switched off. Irked by this, the court noted that not only did the IO came to the court, but had also switched off his phone to avoid any calls from the court. Terming it “serious disregard of the court”, the judge had ordered the IO and the SHO to appear before it on Saturday.

On Saturday, the IO and the SHO told the court that they had got an information that the accused that he may come to Tihar Jail with his 3 - 4 associates to surrender before the duty magistrate at the Tihar jail complex. As per this information, a raiding team was deployed to detain the accused and as soon as they spotted him they detained him immediately and took him to Subhash Place police station.

The IO also said that the persons who pounded on the accused persons were the staff of their police station and the accused person was arrested by them.

Terming it as a clear case of misadventure, the judge said that the procedural safeguards of arrest which includes showing the ID of the arresting officer and proper regard to the physical liberty of the accused have been violated

“In the present case, not only the guidelines have been completely violated but also there is patent disregard to the spirit of procedural law. The concerned DCP Is hereby directed to sensitize the staff regarding the procedural requirements of arrest…,” the court said.