NEW DELHI: Ina telling indictment of the Haryana State machinery and of politicization of its police force, the Supreme Court has awarded jail terms of two to three months to three Police officers, including a SP, for Committing contempt by filing false affidavits in a Habeas Corpus matter, in which son-in-law of Haryana Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal, was cited as one of the respondents.
While Anil Davra, SP, Hisar, will have to undergo simple imprisonment for two months, Sham Lal Goel, Additional SP, Hisarand Rajinder Singh Yaday, SHO, Sadar Police Station, Hisar, have been sentenced to a three month jail term and a fine of Rs 1,500 each, and in default to further undergo simple imprisonment for 15 days. Immediately after delivering the dementing a jam packed room, Division Bench comprising Just IAS, Anand and Justice Faizanuddin, ordered the three police officers, who ‘Were present, to surrender before the registrar. They were later whisked away by the Delhi police to Tihar Jail to serve the sentence.
The matter pertains to an incident of January 1994, when the Hisar police, illegally, detained a taxi driver along with Dhananjay Sharma, an employee with a business firm, which had civil dispute with the company owned by Anoop Bishnoi, son-in-law of Bhajan Lal. While referring to the role of Anoop Bishnot in the matter, the judges made it clear that he could not be held Responsible “for or privy to the actions of the three police officers and he could not be said to have committed any contempt of this court.”
The judges said, “It cannot be said with any amount of certainty whether it was over zealousness on the part of the three police officers or they were trying to prove themselves “to be more loyal than the King’ or were acting under any extraneous pressures.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 12, 1995
