KASHMERI DEVI Vs. DELHI ADMINISTRATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Special leave granted.

(2.) This is an unfortunate case which tends to shake the credibility of police investigation and undermines the faith of common man in Delhi Police which is supposed to protect lift and liberty of citizens and maintain law and order. There has been serious allegations of murder by torture against the police and futher about the haphazard manner in which the investigation against the accused police officers was investigated with a view to shield the guilty members of the Delhi Police.

(3.) Kashmeri Devi the appellant is the unfortunate widow of Gopi Ram deceased who was a tanga driver. On the fateful night of 22/23-8-1986 two sub-inspectors accompanied by two constables visited the house of Sudesh Kumar of Prem Nagar. It is alleged that they started beating Sudesh Kumar. Hearing his shrieks his maternal uncle Gopi Ram deceased came to the spot, he tried to intervene whereupon the police men are alleged to have given him beating also. Gopi Ram and Sudesh Kumar both were arrested and taken to the Police Station, Patel Nagar where they were stripped of their clothes and the policemen gave them serious beating with the help of iron rods and iron rulers. It is alleged that Gopi Ram succumbed to his injuries at the police station sustained at the hands of Satish Kumar and Rana, sub-inspectors and Jagmal Singh and Romesh constables while in police custody. It is alleged that thereafter a post-mortem was conducted and the dead body of Gopi Ram was cremated without handing over the dead body to the appellant. This incident caused consternation in the locality and on 23-8-1986 a mob surrounded the police station to lodge its protest against the death of Gopi Ram deceased at the police hands. Undaunted the Patel Nagar police registered a case under Ss. 147/148/149/353/332 of the Indian Penal Code against Shankar brother of the deceased who was arrested along with others on 23-8-1986 as they were members of the mob. Sudesh Kumar who had been taken to the police station along with Gopi Ram filed a written complaint at the police station Patel Nagar on 23-8-1986, making allegations against the two sub-inspectors and the constables. In that complaint Sudesh Kumar alleged that as a result of beating by police officers his maternal uncle became unconscious and thereafter the police officers kept on beating him at the police station as a result of which he died. He further alleged that the police officers took the dead body of Gopi Ram to the hospital, from there they brought it to another hospital, where he was forced, to sign blank papers. He named the police officers who were responsible of the death of his maternal uncle. On that complaint a case was registered under Ss. 302/342, I.P.C. against the police officers of Patel Nagar Police Station but no action was taken against those officers. After some time case was converted to S. 304, I.P.C. for purpose of investigation. The appellant Kashmeri Devi approached the High Court by means of a writ petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution for transferring the investigation of the case from the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police to Central Bureau of Investigation. Division Bench of the High Court dismissed the writ petition by its order dated 26th Sept. 1986. Thereupon, the appellant approached this Court by means of special leave petition.