The apex court extended the stay on the contempt of court conviction and prison sentence imposed by the Gujarat High Court on four guilty police officials.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Gujarat cops who publicly flogged some Muslims accused of pelting stones on a Hindu religious procession.
A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta asked the counsel representing the accused: “So you have authority under law? What kind of atrocities are these? To tie people to polls and beat them?…and take videos?”
“… Enjoy custody. You will be a guest of your own officers. They will get you special treatment,” the bench added.
However, the court extended the stay on the contempt of court conviction and prison sentence imposed by the Gujarat High Court on four guilty police officials.
After counsel for the policemen informed the bench that criminal prosecution and departmental proceedings against them are already underway, the bench proceeded to stay the contempt of court order against them until further orders.
The matter concerns the public flogging of five Muslim men by policemen from the Matar Police Station in Kheda district in October 2022 for allegedly hurling stones at a crowd during a Navratri event in Undhela village.
Videos of the flogging incident also surfaced on social media.
Family members of the victims, through senior advocate I.H. Syed, petitioned the high court seeking contempt of court action against the policemen for violating the Supreme Court’s guidelines issued in the case of D.K. Basu vs State of West Bengal, which called for compliance with proper procedure before arresting any individual.
In October last year, the Gujarat High Court found four policemen guilty of contempt of court. While fourteen policemen were said to have been involved, only four police officials could be identified from video footage of the incident.
The court sentenced the four officials to fourteen days of simple imprisonment and a fine of ₹2,000 each. The high court added that the incident in question was an act against humanity. However, it stayed its order for a period of three months.
The high court also refused to accept the apology tendered by the policemen, stating that their acts had a debilitating effect on the rule of law even if their apology was bonafide.
This led to the instant appeal before the apex court.
The top court in Tuesday’s hearing admitted the police officials’ appeal and called for an expedited hearing in the matter.
