SC upholds cop’s conviction in Delhi custodial death

Twenty-two years after a man died due to torture in a police station here, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of an SHO, but regretted the protracted delay in the trial during which even the deceased’s own mother and relatives turned hostile.

Twenty-two years after a man died due to torture in a police station here, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of an SHO, but regretted the protracted delay in the trial during which even the deceased’s own mother and relatives turned hostile.

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However, since R P Tyagi, the then SHO of Vivek Vihar police station, was now of 67 years of age, a bench of Justices H S Bedi and J M Panchal reduced the sentence to five years rigorous imprisonment from eight-year RI, but increased the fine to Rs five lakh as against Rs two lakh imposed by the Delhi High Court.

The apex court said the convicted SHO would have to pay Rs five lakh to the mother of deceased Mahender failing which his appeal challenging the Delhi High Court’s judgement would automatically stand dismissed.

“This case exemplifies the repeated observations that a delay in the disposal of a criminal case leads to the destruction of the prosecution case.

“The incident happened in 1987, and the evidence was recorded in 2004. Little wonder, therefore, that all most all the prosecution witnesses including the mother, brothers, uncles etc of Mahender and Ram Kumar had been declared hostile as they had not supported the prosecution,” the apex court observed.

The deceased Mahender along with another person Ram Kumar were picked up by the police and tortured at the police station on August 24, 1987, after the former allegedly stabbed Tyagi.