Ranchi: What if men who are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order themselves land on the wrong side of the law!
Three senior police officers found out the hard way as the Jharkhand High Court came down heavily on them following allegations that a Class X student was illegally detained for 10 days in Chatra district.
The high court confiscated mobile phones of the three cops, and made them remain in the court premises for hours during the course of the hearing.
The student’s mother filed a habeas corpus petition, alleging that the boy was picked up by police on the night of January 26 and kept in custody without legal sanction.
During the hearing, a division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice AK Rai questioned the concerned policemen
— Chatra DSP, officer-in-charge of Tandwa police station and officer-in-charge of Lawalaung police station — whether the student’s detention had been formally recorded in the case diary.
The police officers failed to give a satisfactory reply, following which the court directed them to sit in the courtroom and ordered seizure of their mobile phones.
The cops were further asked why the boy, allegedly taken for questioning, was not released immediately and on what grounds was he kept in custody for nearly 10 days.
The two-judge high court bench was told that the student had been picked up by Lawalaung police and then handed over to Tandwa police. The DSP claimed the details were entered in the station diary.
The Chatra SP, appearing via video conferencing, read out relevant portions of the case diary on the court’s orders.
The bench noted the entries and moderated its stand.
The court also directed the investigating officer to formally produce the case diary on February 13, the next date of hearing.
All three officers have been directed to be physically present in court on that day as well.
After the hearing, the mobile phones were returned to the officers.