The Bombay High Court bench of Justice Manish Pitale at the Nagpur seat, earlier this month, granted relief to an IPS officer, who was "wrongfully" named in a criminal case for torturing and assaulting a man and for outraging modesty of a female constable. He was also arrested in a traffic violation case.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by one Anil Paraskar, IPS, challenging the summons issued against him by a Magistrate Court for grievously hurting a 30-year-old man. According to his petition, the man was arrested for violating traffic rules, after which he allegedly acted in an objectionable manner against a lady police constable. The man, upon being produced before a court, alleged that Paraskar and two other policemen had assaulted him while in custody.
Subsequently, a judicial enquiry was ordered. In May, 2013, a report was submitted to the Principal District Judge, which named three police personnel -Goswami, Borkar and Parashar, connected with Ram Nagar police station, Gondia. Accordingly, the Magistrate Court issued summons against the trio. However, the summons were being sent to Paraskar who, at the relevant time, was working as the additional superintendent of police in Gondia.
The IPS officer, in his plea, claimed that he has no concern with the incident in question and the conclusion rendered by the Magistrate in the judicial enquiry also does not name him and instead names one Parashar along with Goswami and Borkar as the police personnel responsible for the said incident.
"The repeated issuance of summons to my client is wholly misplaced and that the pendency of the criminal case (against him) is unnecessarily leading to harassment to my client," argued advocate PK Sathianathan, for Paraskar.
Having gone through the material on record, Justice Pitale said, "It is difficult to understand as to how the petitioner, who is Anil Paraskar, an IPS officer, is sought to be summoned on the basis of the conclusion in the said judicial enquiry. His name does not figure in either the enquiry report or the order of the issuing process."
"Therefore, summons could not have been issued to the petitioner at all," the judge held. The bench, accordingly ,quashed the summons issued against the IPS officer.
