Says ACP assault on a girl protesting against rape in Delhi is an insult to the country.
The next time a policeman lays a hand on a woman, he may have to face the “wrath” of the Supreme Court.
Taking a serious note of the police’s high-handedness, the apex court on Thursday called the recent slapping by an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of a young girl, who was protesting against the rape of a five-year-old girl in Delhi, an “insult to the country”.
Stressing that such incidents have to be prevented, it sought an explanation on the slapping from the Delhi police chief.
It took up another case of police brutality from Aligarh in UP, where a 65-year-old woman was assaulted while protesting against the alleged rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.
“Even an animal won’t do what police officers are doing everyday in different parts of the country,” it said while referring to the Aligarh assault. Asking Gaurav Bhatia, UP’s counsel, if his government had lost its sense of shame, the court directed the state’s chief secretary to file an affidavit on the Aligarh incident.
The bench drew a parallel with Lal Bahadur Shastri’s resignation from the post of the railway minister in 1956, owning up moral responsibility for a railway accident that killed 112 people.
It directed the chief secretaries of Rajasthan, Haryana, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa to file affidavits on whether they have set up state security commissions in pursuance to its direction in 2006 for police reforms.
On similar lines went the Delhi’s high court’s concerns. Pointing out the “alarming” increase in rape cases in Delhi, it directed the Centre and the city police to find out the “root cause” of such incidents.
“There is something wrong somewhere with Delhi. People have gone mad. Other aspects we can understand,” a bench headed by chief justice D Murugesan said after the Delhi police claimed that mere policing will not prevent such crimes.
“Most of these accused belong to nearby states and there is a need to find out ways to prevent these kind of occurrences,” it said, referring to the five-year-old’s rape.
It also asked the Delhi police to file a report on the training given to its personnel. This direction came after it was pointed out that some police officials had acted in insensitively during the rape probe.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police registered a case against ACP BS Ahlawat, who slapped the protester.
Beyond its mandate
The SC said although the framers of the Constitution had not visualised such incidents or provided for provisions to deal with them, it would go beyond its norms in dealing with police personnel involved in such attacks.
It said it will take a very serious view of another such incident, and the person involved will have to face the wrath of the court.
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