After the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday directed the state government to arrest Pune police commissioner Gulabrao Pol for wilful disobedience of directions seeking details of a rights violation, the Pune police woke up. They wrote to the commission that the incident had taken place in the jurisdiction of the Pune rural police and not that of the Pune police commissionerate.
After coming to know about the NHRC directive, Pol immediately asked his officers to clarify his version in a press statement.
Pol told dna that the matter has nothing to do with the Pune police as the incident took place in the jurisdiction of the Pune rural police.
The police commissioner said, “Neither me nor the Pune city police have anything to do with this matter since the incident took place in the Pune rural police jurisdictions in 2007.” When asked why NHRC had mentioned his name in its order, Pol said, “I don’t have any idea about it.”
Meanwhile, the Pune rural police have started preparing a detailed report of the case and are likely to send it to the NHRC and the city police in the next couple of days.
Superintendent of police Manojkumar Lohiya told dna, “We have ordered our local crime branch officers to prepare a report of the case.”
The rights violation complaint
The matter being considered by the NHRC relates to the complaint of Kishan Namdev Godke alleging abduction and killing of his son on April 30, 2007 by some persons and inaction by the local police, which was continuing. The matter was taken up during the open hearing on scheduled caste matters by the NHRC at Nagpur in January this year.
The warrant
The NHRC has been communicating with the city police since May and had been regularly asking for details of the case. However, except for sending one of the summons to Pune rural police in May, the city police did not send any of the NHRC communiques to the rural police.
“No response was filed by the commissioner of police, Pune on the day of the hearing. He was thereafter called upon to submit the report within a period of four weeks, but the report was not received,” said the NHRC statement. The right panel had issued reminders, conditional summons on May 6 and non-conditional summons on June 6 this year to appear before the Commission along with the reports.
“However, the commissioner of police, Pune did not comply with the directions of the commission,” the statement added. The commission has observed that without complete reports, it cannot decide the matter.
The commission said it has taken a serious view of the “casual and mechanical approach” adopted by Pol in a matter relating to human rights violation of a person of the scheduled caste.
The commission found the lack of response from Pol to be indicative of wilful disobedience of its directions. It has asked the state chief secretary to arrest and bring Pol before the commission on January 28, 2014 at 3 pm. The chief secretary has also been asked to return the warrant duly executed on or before January 21 with an endorsement certifying the day on which and the manner in which, it has been executed or the reason why it has not been executed. The rights panel further directed the chief secretary to release Pol on bail of Rs500 with one surety of like amount on his undertaking to appear before the commission on the given date.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}