GURUGRAM: A group of lawyers on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to the commissioner of police, demanding compliance of a
court order to file an FIR against senior IPS officer
Bharti Arora, which has faced much delay.
A district court on April 19 had directed police to probe allegations against the senior Haryana IPS officer, now the Inspector General of Police (vigilance), as well as road safety officer (RSO) Abhinav, by filing the FIR. The direction was issued in a
case filed by
Jyotsna Bhardwaj, daughter-in-law of a retired IAS officer, who had approached the court for filing the FIR.
“As per law, police should have filed the FIR within 24 hours of the court order. But action hasn’t been taken so far,” said Bhardwaj, a lawyer by profession, who claimed a copy of the court order was given to police on April 19.
In her complaint, Bhardwaj had alleged that on August 8, 2015, five police officials had come to her house in the morning to serve a notice to appear before
Arora, then joint commissioner of police (JCP).
After five minutes, one of the officials — Abhinav — returned, and made unwelcome sexual advances, secretly filmed her and gave her his mobile number, all on the pretext of helping her get the matter settled.
Bhardwaj had filed a complaint with the CP in 2015, which led to an investigation by a senior police officer.
The investigation
report said Abhinav tagged along with the other police officers to Bhardwaj’s house, knowing she lived alone, and also confirmed he had secretly filmed her, gave her his phone number, and offered to “settle the case”.
In her reply to the DGP, Arora explained the police team, including a lady police officer, was sent with a camera to record delivery of the notice, as she had apprehended the complainant could level false allegations against her and other police personnel.
Court observed that once notice was served, there was need for the RSO to return alone, though it said whether this amounted to trespass needed further probe.
The role of the IPS officer in the incident, too, needed thorough investigation.
In his order, judicial magistrate (first class) Ravish Kaushik observed all facts of the case need deep investigation and directed police to file an FIR, observing that the investigating agency should scan the content of the video recorded, to find out where it was used and on whose instruction, and the purpose of sending the RSO back to the house all alone.
