AHMEDABAD: In an important order,
Gujarat high court on Thursday observed that the state government should not spend money defending erring police officials and the officers concerned should be told to engage their own lawyers to defend them.
The court said so in a case in which
Gandhinagar police detained two brothers – Astitva and Aditya Kachihar — in connection with a molestation case even after they were granted anticipatory bail by a sessions court in December 2016. They were kept in the lock-up for 24 hours.
They filed a petition in the HC seeking an inquiry into their illegal detention and accused three police officials — the police inspector and sub-inspector of Sector 21 police station and the DSP of Gandhinagar for the illegality.
After hearing the case, Justice J B Pardiwala questioned, “When serious allegations are levelled against police officials in a writ-petition and such erring police officials are impleaded as a party respondent in their personal capacity, why should the state defend such police officials through the APPs (assistant public prosecutors). To put it in other words, why should the APP appearing for the state defend an erring police officer.”
The HC made it clear, “The police officer should be asked to engage his own lawyer and defend himself. An erring police official should not be defended at the cost of the state exchequer.”
When the court questioned the cops, the PSI pleaded ignorance about provisions of the law. The judge got angry at this, “I may only say that ignorance of law is not an excuse. A police officer is supposed to be a custodian of law and order. A police officer cannot plead ignorance of law. Whenever a citizen does something contrary to the law, the first argument advanced by the state is that ignorance of law is not an excuse. I fail to understand how a police officer can act totally contrary to the statutory provisions of law.”
