A year after four Muslim men were illegally booked and publicly thrashed by the Kheda police “with a view to maintaining peace and harmony” during the Navratri celebrations, in Kheda district of Gujarat, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday initiated contempt proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act against four policemen.
The division bench, comprising Justices A S Supehia and MR Mengdey, based on the inquiry report conducted by the Nadiad chief judicial magistrate, began contempt proceedings under Section 2(b) (civil contempt) read with Section 12 (punishment for contempt) of the Act against these four individuals for violating “the law enunciated by the Supreme Court in the case of D K Basu versus the state of West Bengal.”
Following a request from the counsel representing the police officials, which requested permission for cross-examination of the accused in the case, the court granted the police officials time to file an affidavit in their defence by October 11.
The victims, identified as Jahirmiya Malek (62), Maksudabanu Malek (45), Sahadmiya Malek (23), Sakilmiya Malek (24), and Shahidraja Malek (25), filed a petition against 13 Kheda police officers. They sought compensation and argued that the 15 officers, including Ahmedabad Range IG and Kheda SP, should be “punished for contempt and non-compliance” with the directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of D K Basu versus the state of West Bengal, which provides guidelines to be followed by the police during arrest and detention.
The four police inspectors accused were named A V Parmar, sub-inspector D B Kumavat, constable Rajubhai Rameshbhai Dabhi, and head constable Kanaksinh Laxmansinh. Parmar was observed striking Sahadmiya, Sakilmiya, and Shahidraja on their buttocks with a stick, while Kumavat was seen sitting in a chair and, in some screenshots, standing in the background. He was not seen wielding a stick or physically assaulting any of the individuals. Kanaksinh was seen gripping a white pipe and directing the applicants towards a van, and in one screenshot, he raised the pipe towards Sahadmiya. Rajubhai can be seen holding the hands of the three men to the pole while Parmar delivered the blows.
In response to Kumavat’s argument that he cannot be held responsible for contempt since he wasn’t seen carrying a stick or directly assaulting the victims, the division bench rejected this claim.
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In the order issued on Wednesday, the court stated, “The incident of flogging took place in broad daylight in front of a crowd. Kumavat’s presence is undisputed. However, Kumavat did not make any effort to rescue the victims who were brutally flogged in public view by other respondents. He did not attempt to stop the flogging. On the contrary, his presence in the chowk with other assailants indicates that he accompanied the other respondents and actively participated in bringing the applicants from the police station to the chowk, where they were tied up and subjected to merciless beatings.”
The court concluded that there was an implied consent by Kumavat in carrying out this illegal and humiliating act. Therefore, Kumavat cannot be granted immunity from being charged under the Contempts of Court Act.
Furthermore, the bench decided to drop the proceedings against 11 other police officers.