With several thousand people
arrested in the city for violation of lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a pile of such cases would be heard in courts once the situation normalises, lawyers said on Wednesday. The violators, arrested mainly under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violation of lockdown measures, are generally granted bail from the police station on a personal bond, as it is a bailable section, Radha Kanta Mukherjee, special public prosecutor at the Alipore Court here. According to Kolkata Police sources, till April 14, over 16,000 people have been arrested from different parts of the city for defying the nationwide lockdown which was imposed on March 25.
This is a part of our ongoing measure to ensure that people are not defying the lockdown. Despite our attempts, people have come out of their houses either with invalid or fake documents or without proper reasons," a senior officer of the Kolkata Police said.
We have arrested them under section 188 of the IPC and seized vehicles following necessary legal formalities, the officer said. The process will continue as the Centre has extended the lockdown till May 3, he added.
We have been trying to convince the people through various ways, but it seems that some are not ready to understand the reason behind the lockdown, he added. The violators who were arrested and later enlarged on bail from the police stations would have to appear before the designated courts once the normal judicial function resumes, the special public prosecutor said. According to an order of the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, T B N Radhakrishnan, only extremely urgent matters are being taken up by the courts in West Bengal through video-conferencing only.
"An alleged violator is granted bail on a personal bond if the charges are bailable. The person is given a date, ideally within a maximum period of a month, by the officer- in-charge of the police station concerned to appear before the designated court for further proceedings," Mukherjee said. He said that if the courts do not recommence normal functioning by that time, the alleged violator would have to take another date from the concerned police station, within the jurisdiction of which he or she was arrested. Once the courts reopen, the magistrates would have to deal with thousands of such cases, said Calcutta High Court lawyer Suman Shankar Chatterjee.
If the alleged violator admits guilt, he or she may be punished as per law and the case disposed of, but if the person challenges the charges against him or her, proceedings would have to be drawn against the person before the court gives its verdict, Chatterjee said.
Violation of section 188 (disobeying a public servant's lawful order) attracts jail term of one month or fine up to Rs 200, or both. If such disobedience causes or tends to cause danger to human life, health and safety, the guilty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term up to six months or fine of up to Rs 2,000 or both.
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