Pune, Aug 5: Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident in which three murder accused were tied to the bonnet of a police vehicle and paraded through parts of Pune, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the state government and senior police officials.
MSHRC flags alleged rights violations
Describing the episode as "barbaric" and likening the situation to "jungle raj", it said the incident that occurred recently amounted to public humiliation of suspects before determination of guilt and appeared to violate constitutional protections.
The MSHRC also said the conduct of the Pune Police Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Police warranted inquiry for alleged negligence in preventing human rights violations or abetment through failure to act, and ordered a preliminary fact-finding inquiry into the incident.
In an order passed by a full bench headed by Commission Chairperson Justice A M Badar on August 3, the panel directed issuance of notices to the Maharashtra Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III) Milind Mohite and senior inspector Mansingh Patil of the Bharti Vidyapeeth police station.
Commission cites parade footage
The commission said videos circulating on social media prima facie showed "a barbaric incident" in which three young accused were tied to the bonnet of a police vehicle and paraded on public roads after their arrest in a murder case.
The commission stated that the video clip recollected a "bad memory" of the old incident with Farooq Ahmad Dar, who was tied to the bonnet of an Army vehicle and paraded through several villages in Kashmir.
"The National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi, has been pleased to direct the state to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim," it said.
"Pune Police has virtually imitated the said incident, prima facie to tarnish and malign the image of the state government, and to project the style of working of Pune Police as a "Jungle Raj" functionary and blatant disregard for constitutional safeguards, including the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21," the order said.
Inquiry into police conduct
If these widely-circulated video clips are ultimately found to be correct, they will certainly bring shame to the otherwise well-governed State of Maharashtra, the commission observed.
It noted that, according to media reports and the video footage, the accused were allegedly forced to walk on their knees, assaulted in public and later tied to the bonnet of a police vehicle, allowing onlookers to attack them in the presence of police personnel.
Expressing concern over videos purportedly showing a police officer threatening children who had gathered to witness the incident, it said such conduct could cause psychological trauma and was contrary to the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The commission said the alleged acts amounted to public humiliation of suspects before determination of guilt and appeared to violate constitutional protections, statutory safeguards governing arrests and Supreme Court guidelines on the treatment of arrested persons.
Fact-finding committee formed
Referring to an earlier human rights case involving the Pune Police, the commission observed that a similar incident had come to its notice earlier this year, and said the recurrence of such episodes raised prima facie questions about the role of senior supervisory officers.
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The conduct of the Pune Police Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Police warranted inquiry for alleged negligence in preventing human rights violations or abetment through failure to act, it said.
It also ordered a preliminary fact-finding inquiry to be conducted by Datta Karale, Special Inspector General of Police of the MSHRC, with the assistance of Vijay Kedar, the Registrar, and Viswas Pandhare, Superintendent of Police of the commission.
The fact-finding committee on Wednesday visited the Bharti Vidyapeeth police station to review the incident and record the statements. The committee has been directed to submit the report within a week.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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