The National Human Rights Commission took serious note of the Telangana police’s ‘attitude’ in connection with a delay in filing a final action-taken report, and stated that it was issuing a conditional summons to Telangana Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy to personally appear with the relevant documents.
The case in question was that of two officers of the Karimnagar police allegedly intimidating an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protester. As was earlier reported in these columns in December last year, M A Mujeeb, a 37-year-old para-legal activist, was involved in an anti-CAA protest in Karimnagar. Soon after, he was summoned to the one-town police station for a ‘counselling’ session. One of the officers, Mr Mujeeb claimed, described Islam as having the most ‘fanaticism’, and also told him to speak like a ‘true Indian’. Delhi-based lawyer Bilal Anwar Khan represented him at the human rights panel.
The NHRC on October 1 stated that it had taken cognisance of the matter on January 22, 2020, and called for an action-taken report. But, no report was filed. On May 12, 2020, the NHRC gave a ‘last opportunity’ to submit the report. Despite this, no report was filed, it stated.
“The Commission has considered all the material placed on the record. Despite giving last opportunity no report has been submitted till date. The Commission takes a serious note of this non-responsive attitude. Let conditional summons u/s 13 of PHR Act, 1993 be issued against the DGP Telangana. He is directed to personally appear before the Commission on 01.02.2021 at 11 am along with the requisite report,” the NHRC stated.
In case the Commission receives the report a week before the scheduled date, Mr Reddy’s personal appearance in the case ‘shall stand dispensed with’. The due date has been mentioned as October 11.