Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday sentenced four cops to 14 days of simple imprisonment in contempt of court as they flogged five men (in pic) belonging to a minority community after tying them with a pole in full public view last October at a village in Gujarat’s Kheda district.
The court also ordered a 90-day stay for challenging the order at the Supreme Court. The convicts —police inspector A V Parmar, PSI D B Kumawat, head constable K L Dabhi and constable Raju Dabhi—of Kheda’s Matar Police Station thrashed the five men for allegedly throwing stones at a crowd during a Navratri celebration in Undhela village.
While pronouncing the verdict, a bench of Justices A S Suhia and Gita Gopu stated, “The police officers’ actions against the complainant amount to a crime against humanity. The fact that the complainants were tied to a pole and flogged in public, which was witnessed by the whole crowd, indicates that the problem is not limited to Undhela village but has spread beyond.”
“If government officials breach the law, it will generate contempt for the law and encourage lawlessness, and every man will have the urge to become a law unto himself, leading to anarchy. No civilised nation can allow such a thing to happen…” the HC observed.
The court also denied the convicts’ plea of paying a fine or remaining on probation instead of being jailed. The court had refused to accept an unconditional apology from the convicts earlier. The victims, who were the petitioners in the case, have argued that the 15 officers should be “punished for contempt and non-compliance”. Follow channel on WhatsApp
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday sentenced four cops to 14 days of simple imprisonment in contempt of court as they flogged five men (in pic) belonging to a minority community after tying them with a pole in full public view last October at a village in Gujarat’s Kheda district.
The court also ordered a 90-day stay for challenging the order at the Supreme Court. The convicts —police inspector A V Parmar, PSI D B Kumawat, head constable K L Dabhi and constable Raju Dabhi—of Kheda’s Matar Police Station thrashed the five men for allegedly throwing stones at a crowd during a Navratri celebration in Undhela village.
While pronouncing the verdict, a bench of Justices A S Suhia and Gita Gopu stated, “The police officers’ actions against the complainant amount to a crime against humanity. The fact that the complainants were tied to a pole and flogged in public, which was witnessed by the whole crowd, indicates that the problem is not limited to Undhela village but has spread beyond.” googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“If government officials breach the law, it will generate contempt for the law and encourage lawlessness, and every man will have the urge to become a law unto himself, leading to anarchy. No civilised nation can allow such a thing to happen…” the HC observed.
The court also denied the convicts’ plea of paying a fine or remaining on probation instead of being jailed. The court had refused to accept an unconditional apology from the convicts earlier. The victims, who were the petitioners in the case, have argued that the 15 officers should be “punished for contempt and non-compliance”. Follow channel on WhatsApp
