The reluctance of the IPS leadership to take a stand on the issue is damaging the reputation of the entire force, say observers
Mumbai : The Director General of Maharashtra police has sent a damning report on the Paraskar episode to the home ministry, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.
The contents of the report are not known but it is believed that it reflects the concerns of the IPS lobby on the issue. Paraskar is likely to face a departmental inquiry for breaching service conduct rules.
Several observers felt that the reluctance of the IPS leadership to take a stand on the issue was damaging the reputation of the entire force given the fact that deputy inspector-general Sunil Paraskar has virtually admitted in court that whatever happened between him and the model who had accused him of rape was consensual.
Retired police chief Julio Ribeiro and IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh say Paraskar has clearly violated service conduct rules even if he had consensual sex with the model because she had come to him as a complainant. Besides, he had even accepted costly gifts from her.
According to Singh, the police department can penalise Paraskar only after a departmental inquiry.
The Maharashtra State Commission for Women has already demanded that Paraskar either step aside voluntarily till the investigation is over or be suspended for impartial investigation into the rape charges. It is to be noted that Paraskar had served as a deputy commissioner in the crime branch which is now probing the molestation and rape charges against him.
According to lawyer and women’s rights activist Aabha Singh, Paraskar should have been suspended for misconduct as witnesses have said that they saw him and the complainant at the spots where the alleged offences were committed.
Activists such as Dolphy D’Souza of the Police Reforms Watch, too, feel that the home ministry should step in to restore the faith of the public in the system. “Which woman will approach even a senior police officer with a complaint as they will be afraid of `coercive consensual sex’?’’ he asked. He further pointed out that Paraskar was ironically in charge of the cell for protection of human rights.
Anil Singh
