Gujarat HC irked at Shingala’s U-turn

The Gujarat high court issued a show-cause notice to Vishal Shingala of Jamnagar, who on Thursday had sought permission to withdraw the petition against IPS officer Subhash Trivedi. Shingala had earlier filed a petition before the Gujarat high court against Jamnagar DSP Trivedi and other cops for torturing him in police custody after he was arrested in a case under Prohibition Act in 2008.

Justice AS Dave was irked with Shingala as he decided to withdraw the petition when the matter was in the final stage. It also directed filing of an FIR against the IPS officer. The court asked Shingala to file a reply before May 29 as to why any criminal action shall not be initiated against him.

Last Tuesday, the court asked Shingala to lodge a complaint before the Jamnagar police against Subhash Trivedi under section 330 of the IPC for voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession. The state government had also initiated departmental action against Trivedi.

However, Shingala’s sudden change of mind has not gone down well with the court and he has been asked to furnish a reply as to why he wanted to withdraw the plea at final stage.

According to the petition filed by Shingala, an FIR was lodged against him in case of prohibition and he was arrested. He was then subjected to custodial torture by DSP Trivedi and the police inspector. He filed a complaint before the local court which entrusted inquiry of the matter to the police, but it did not yield any result.