E-Paper
Why a Delhi court ordered 4 accused to ‘stand with hands in air’ as punishment?
The judge was hearing a 2018 complaint case, which was at the stage of pre-charge evidence. He then remanded the accused to 14 days of judicial custody.
A Delhi court on Thursday asked four accused persons to stand in the court with their hands raised in the air "till its rising" as a punishment for wasting the time of judiciary and failing to furnish their bail bonds in time.
Judicial magistrate Saurabh Goyal held the accused guilty for contempt of court proceedings and convicted them for the offence under Section 228 (intentionally insulting or interrupting a public servant while they are engaged in judicial proceeding) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The judge was hearing a 2018 complaint case, which was at the stage of pre-charge evidence.
The court order, dated July 15, said that despite waiting and calling the matter twice from 10 am till 11:40 am, the bail bonds were not furnished by the accused persons.
"For wasting the time of the court, which is in contempt of the order duly promulgated on the last date of hearing, the accused persons are hereby held guilty for contempt of court proceedings and are convicted for the offence under Section 228 (intentional insult or interruption to public servant sitting in judicial proceeding) of the IPC," the order read.
The order continued, "They are directed to stand in the court till the rising of this court with their hands straight in the air."
The court ordered the accused to be taken into custody and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.
However, the accused later filed an application seeking bail and stated that surety was available.
The accused persons are namely Kuldeep, Rakesh, Upasana and Anand, and two other accused persons died during the pendency of the case.
The magistrate accepted the bail bonds and said, "Accused Kuldeep be released from the custody of the court."
The matter relates to a case filed in 2018 by one Harkesh Jain against the six accused, where he alleged that they tried to grab his property and constructed an illegal structure after trespassing on the property.
