CHANDIGARH: The Chief Judicial Magistrate here August 6th convicted high profile former Director-general of Punjab Police K.P.S. Gill for outraging the modesty of senior IAS officer Rupan Deol Bajaj. Announcing his verdict the makeshift courtroom, the CJM, Darshan Singh, sentenced him to three months imprisonment with a total fine of Rs 700. Gill was convicted under section 354 IPC (outraging of modesty) and section 509 IPC (use of force or gestures to insult a woman). The court held that the manner in which Gill called Rupan towards himself and later pulled her chair close to his so that her body could come into physical contact with his amounted to outraging her modesty. Rupan Bajaj’s statement to this effect was considered to be “doubtless and correct” and the CJM is said to have based his verdict on it.
The incident dates back to July 18, 1988 when Gill, then DG Punjab Police, slapped the posterior of IAS officer Rupan Bajaj at a party hosted by the then Financial Commissioner S.L. Kapur. Rupan Bajaj registered an FIR on July 29, 1988 against Gill. The Punjab and Haryana High Court which heard the case quashed the FIR after it was challenged by Gill. Later, however, the Supreme Court ruled the High Court had committed a “gross error” in its judgment. The apex court ordered Gill’s prosecution and asked the CJM to try and dispose of the case himself. Tuesday, the atmosphere in the makeshift court room of the CJM at the traffic police auditorium (sector 29) was tense. The CJM arrived 35 minutes late by which time a motley group of security men and journalists, including the foreign media, television crews and press photographers, had gathered there. Many were waiting outside the hall, braving the afternoon downpour. Rupan Bajaj was conspicuous by her absence but her husband B.R. Bajaj, who is also a complainant in the case, was present. Gill was dressed in a light grey suit and did not react as the judge pronounced his verdict at 2:35 PM. Rupan was informed of the judgment over telephone. Gill, however, remained in the court room for more than two hours with his lawyers when the magistrate went away to indicate his order on the quantum of sentence. After the verdict, Gill was granted bail upon furnishing personal bond of Rs 10,000 and a surety of the same amount. The magistrate stayed the sentence till September 4 to allow Gill time to file an appeal in the sessions Court.
During the prolonged trial, the prosecution’s case was argued by public prosecutor R.L. Sharma. B.R. Bajaj was represented by Amar Singh Chahal, while Gill was defended by Aloke Sen Gupta along with Faqir Chand Aggarwal and Balram Singh. After the CIM pronounced his 81page judgment, defence counsel Aloke Sen Gupta pleaded for leniency while deciding the quantum of sentence. He said, “It was provocation which had led to the slapping of Rupan Bajaj’s posterior following a verbal duel.” Gupta said Gill had no intention of committing the offence and the incident was unplanned and happened on the spur of the moment.
Gupta said Gill was a senior police officer and had no previous record of similar misbehavior. He asked the judge to be lenient on the grounds that he (Gill) had retired and had already gone through quite an ordeal in the last eight years. He pleaded that Gill be released under the Probation of Offenders Act. Public prosecutor R.L. Sharma said Gill should be given “maximum punishment” since he committed the offence when he was heading the state police which is the custodian of the law. “When law keepers flout the law, punishment should be stringent and an eye-opener for others,” he said.
At the end of the day, the public prosecutor and the counsel for the Bajaj’s were understandably jubilant. They spoke to newsmen and the numerous television crews and also posed for press photographers. “The law has taken its course and justice has been done,” said the public prosecutor. Chahal said, “Today’s judgment has clearly proved that nobody, whatsoever his stature, was above the law.”
Article extracted from this publication >> August 6, 1996
