Prayagraj, Oct 13 The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh DGP to issue a circular to all police officers warning that misbehaviour with government advocates communicating court orders for compliance amounts to contempt of court and will be dealt with strictly in accordance with law.
On Monday, taking exception to the conduct of Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rajesh Kumar Singh, who allegedly misbehaved with an additional government advocate (AGA), Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal directed that the PRO be taken into court custody till 5 pm, after which he was released.
The bench observed that AGAs are officers of the court discharging duty in furtherance of judicial directions.
“Whenever they inform any officer about the compliance of the order of this court, they are discharging their duty in compliance of the order of the court and misbehaving with them by any officer, may be the top-most officer of the state, will amount to contempt,” the court observed.
The SSP informed the bench that he had issued a show-cause notice to Singh and removed him as the PRO, a prompt action appreciated by the court.
The order came during the hearing of a bail application filed by Sachin Yadav, booked under Section 64(1) BNS (punishment for rape) and Sections 66E (punishment for violation of privacy) and 67A (punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc) of the IT Act for uploading an obscene video of the rape victim.
The court rejected Yadav’s bail application on merits.
Addressing compliance regarding a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against an investigating officer, the Azamgarh SSP’s affidavit said that after receiving communication from the AGA on September 8, it was forwarded to Maharajganj police station and entered in the general diary.
However, Sub-Inspector Subhash Singh kept it without ensuring compliance. A preliminary inquiry found the station house officer (SHO) negligent, leading to show-cause notices for both officers.
Accepting the SSP’s apology for not personally ensuring execution of the warrant, the court said, “The correct legal position is whenever any police officer receives an NBW issued by the high court to be executed by him, he should personally ensure the arrest of that person and produce him/ her before the high court as in NBW issued by the high court, district court can grant bail.”
Taking note of the SSP’s unblemished record and appreciating his humane gesture of adopting the two minor daughters of a deceased suspect, the court closed the matter against him while expecting him to be more careful in the future.
The registrar (compliance) was directed to send a copy of the order to the UP director general of police (DGP).
(PTI News)
