Bombay High Court acquits slain cop Bajrang Kamble of cowardice charge after 18 years

Mumbai: In a perfect example of ‘delayed justice,’ a slain constable was recently acquitted from charges of cowardice and breaching his duty, by the Bombay High Court. This comes nearly 18 years after the constable was convicted by a trial court in Kolhapur under the charges of Bombay Police Act.

A single-judge bench of Justice Prakash Deo Naik heard a revision application filed by the wife and son of Bajrang Kamble, who had been a constable with the Kolhapur police.

Kamble was accused of remaining absent from January 1991 to September 1991, without permission from his seniors. The prosecution claimed that a notice was issued against Kamble seeking his say but there was no response.

After getting no response from Kamble, the Kolhapur police with the sanction of superior authorities invoked charges of Bombay Police Act against him. He was charge-sheeted for showing cowardice, resigning from duty and breaching his duty wilfully. The trial court in Kolhapur after considering the material on record had accordingly sentenced Kamble to three months simple imprisonment. The verdict was however challenged before a sessions court, which partly allowed Kamble’s appeal and reduced the sentence to 15-days.

Aggrieved by the orders from lower courts, Kamble petitioned the bench of Justice Naik seeking a revision of the judgements. Having vetted the records of the case, Justice Naik said, “The provisions invoked against the accused must be read in letter and spirit. Its object is to punish a person for withdrawing from the duty.”

“There is a distinction between remaining absent and violating the duty which is assigned to the police personnel. Not reporting duty without seeking permission may lead to departmental action. However, to punish a person and direct him to suffer imprisonment which would jeopardise the liberty of a person would certainly require mens rea (intention of wrongdoing) for disobeying the assigned duty,” Justice Naik held. Accordingly, Justice Naik quashed and set aside the judgments pronounced by both the lower courts and acquitted Kamble, though he died during the pendency of his plea.