SC slams Gujarat police for Kheda flogging, asks ‘do you have authority?’

New Delhi: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rebuked the Gujarat Police for the public flogging of five individuals from the Muslim community in a village in the Kheda district in 2022. The court questioned the authority of the officials who tied people to poles and physically assaulted them.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta addressed an appeal by four police personnel – Inspector A V Parmar, Sub-Inspector D B Kumavat, Head Constable K L Dabhi, and Constable R R Dabhi. These officers were challenging the October 19, 2023, order from the Gujarat High Court, which sentenced them to a 14-day simple imprisonment for contempt of court. This was due to their violation of the Supreme Court’s guidelines on detaining and interrogating suspects.

Expressing his frustration during the hearing, Justice Gavai angrily asked, “Do you have the legal authority to tie people to a pole and beat them? Go and enjoy the custody.”

Justice Mehta also severely criticised the officials questioning the nature of the atrocities committed and their expectation for the court to intervene. Severely reprimanding the officials, Justice Mehta said, “What kind of atrocities are these? Tying the people to a pole, beating them in public view and taking videos. Then you want this court to intervene.”

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing the officials, underlined that they were already facing criminal prosecution, departmental proceedings, and an inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Dave argued that the issue at hand was the high court’s jurisdiction to proceed with contempt proceedings, citing the lack of evidence of wilful disobedience as per the apex court’s guidelines in the 1996 DK Basu case.

Justice Gavai shot back, saying ignorance of law is not a valid defence.

“Every police officer ought to know what is the law laid down in DK Basu. As students of law, we have been hearing and reading about the DK Basu verdict,” Justice Gavai said.

Despite Dave’s assertion that the accused cannot be prosecuted under the contempt jurisdiction of the high court, Justice Gavai inquired about the status of a private complaint against the accused policemen.

Senior advocate I H Syed, representing the complainant, confirmed that the complaint was pending and highlighted that contempt charges were independent of departmental proceedings and criminal prosecution.

Justice Gavai said since it is an appeal, the court will have to hear the matter. Dave sought stay of the high court order sentencing them to 14-day imprisonment, saying otherwise the appeal will become infructuous.

Justice Gavai castigated the officials, saying derisively, “Go and enjoy the custody. You will be a guest of your own officers. They will provide you special treatment.”

Dave persisted with his prayer for stay and said even the high court had stayed the operation of its order by three months.

Justice Gavai acceded to his request and ordered a stay on the sentence.

On October 19, 2023, the high court had found the four policemen guilty of contempt and ordered them to spend 14 days in jail. The court had given them three months to appeal the judgement, staying the sentence during that period.

Five Muslims were allegedly beaten up with batons by the accused policemen, who tied them to a pole. The five were among the 13 people picked up for their alleged involvement in throwing stones at a garba event in Undhela village of Kheda district during the Navratri festival in October, 2022. Some villagers and police personnel were reportedly injured.

Later, the five accused, including the main complainant Jahirmiya Malek, had approached the high court claiming police officials committed contempt of court by flouting the Supreme Court’s guidelines.

A total of 13 policemen were named as accused in the case initially. However, the CJM’s report specified the role of only four of them after an inquiry.with agency inputs