A city court today ordered strict action against four police officers for invoking serious sections of Indian Penal Code on a minor matter and asked the Union Home Ministry to direct Delhi Police to identify cases where wrong penal provisions have been invoked and take action against the erring staff.
Liberty of a person is sacred and cannot be curtailed illegally by invoking serious sections of the Indian Penal Code, the court observed.
The court's directions came as it discharged a man in a case of causing simple hurt, which was converted by the police into a serious offence of attempt to commit culpable homicide in the absence of any material.
Delhi resident Warish and a juvenile were arrested by the police for hitting a woman tenant with a stick over an issue concerning payment of rent in 2013.
The court said because of the police officials, the accused suffered incarceration for five days in judicial custody in a non-cognizable and bailable case.
"This court is of the opinion that the Commissioner of Police, Delhi must devise a standard operating procedure so as to prevent registration of cases of simple hurt as cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Sharma said.
It asked the Police Commissioner to take administrative action against ACP Raj Kumar, Inspector Rajesh Vijay, the SHO of Khajuri Khas Police Station in north east Delhi, and Investigating Officer SI Sahab Singh, who were involved in investigating the case, and submit a report to the court within three months.
"A copy of this order be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India with the request to issue appropriate direction to the Delhi Police for identification of such cases and take appropriate action at their end and further, to ensure that such practice should be curbed," the judge said.
It also asked the Police Commissioner to issue a slew of directions to the cops including that no person should be arrested in a case under section 308 (culpable homicide) of IPC without written permission of ACP.
