Outside the Tihar Jail’s court complex, police officers stand in groups — holding the hands of the accused — waiting for their turn to appear before the magistrate and seek police or judicial custody of the alleged offender. Their restlessness becomes evident as the crowd swells and an otherwise simple procedure stretches to hours.
Owing to the nationwide lockdown and minimal court proceedings in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, investigating officers and other police personnel are facing a hard time after making fresh arrests. They have been told to produce the accused arrested in the Capital at Tihar and Mandoli jail court complexes, where only one duty metropolitan magistrate each works through the day conducting the proceedings.
Earlier, before the COVID-19 restrictions were enforced, the investigating officers could produce the accused in the court of the area concerned and the procedure did not take a lot of time. Now, the officers have to wait long hours for their turn, amid fear of contracting the virus in that crowded space.
10-hour-long ordeal
A sub-inspector-rank officer from South East district, who had arrested a man for allegedly raping a woman last month, shared her ordeal of waiting outside the court complex with the victim from 2 p.m. till midnight.
The officer said she had applied for Test Identification Parade (TIP) of the accused, in which the victim has to identify the accused in the presence of the duty MM, and she went to the Tihar court on the date given to her.
“We reached there at 2 p.m. Two persons sitting outside the court wrote my name and told me that I will be informed when my turn comes. There were about 80 investigating officers already waiting at that time, including those who had made fresh arrests and had to produce the accused before the duty MM,” she said.
The SI said she lost her patience when her turn did not come till about 10 p.m, as hers was a TIP application along with two other such cases from different police stations and fresh arrestees were being produced first.
“Finally, I told the persons sitting outside that I was waiting here [Tihar court complex] with the victim since afternoon. That’s when the duty MM went with us for the TIP proceedings,” she said.
Explaining the proceeding, she said that during the TIP these days, the duty MM has to come along to the jail where the accused is lodged. In the normal course, after the arrest is made, the court orders TIP in the next hearing. If the accused agrees to the proceedings, he/she is produced before the court with others for identification by the victim.
The officer further said that it was “a complete mess” outside the court complex. “There was no place to sit and wait, no washroom facility for those visiting the premises. On a daily basis, about 80-100 accused are produced before Tihar’s duty MM by police personnel. About 200-300 people are present in that area. It’s impossible to maintain social distancing in such a situation,” she said.
The officer had to take the rape victim outside to use a public washroom, she said, adding that she reached home at 1 a.m. after the TIP.
Another SI-rank officer from North district complained of lack of clarity on instructions regarding the production of accused before the magistrate.
“Two days before the arrest was made in my case [murder case], a colleague told me that he first went to the Tis Hazari court [designated for North district] from where he was told to go to Tihar and then because it was late, he was again told to visit the house of the duty MM from Tis Hazari. So I wasn’t sure what to do,” he said.
After the arrest was made, the officer said, he went to the Tis Hazari court around 2.30 p.m. but the duty MM there told him to produce the accused before the Tihar court.
“Thankfully, I knew a court official who requested the duty MM to proceed in the case. Even then the MM made me wait till 5 p.m. While waiting for our turn, the accused tried to flee also but we managed to nab him,” the officer said.
Lack of management
The woman sub-inspector also complained of problems arising due to lack of management. “The duty MMs in courts concerned have the same power as the ones in Tihar. It’s hard to understand the new rule. Even if we have to travel a long way and visit Tihar, it would be better if there is one duty MM each for different districts,” she said.
A head constable, who had come to produce a theft accused at Tihar court complex, said he just happened to be lucky because he had come on a day when there were fewer arrests till 2 p.m. “My turn came in just 90 minutes,” he said.