RAMJI LAL Vs. DILA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS habeas corpus writ petition was filed by petitioner Ramji lal, son of Sri Bhullan Singh resident of village Dhanwa, P. S. Teetro, district Saharanpur directing respondents for production of Shiv Kumar who was abducted by respondents on 16-1-1994 and since then he was kept in unlawful custody,

(2.) THE case of the petitioner is that he is a permanent resident of village Dhanwa and had been working as Assistant Agriculture Inspector in the Government department of State of U. P. and at present he is under suspension. His son Sunil was married with Smt. Mamta daughter of Prakasha son of Sri Kundan Singh, resident of village Hasanpur Lohari, P. S Thana Bhawan, district Muzaffarnagar. Respondent Nos. 1 to 9 are all residents of village Hasanpur Lohari and they are closely related to each other. Further case of the petitioner is that a marriage proposal was made by Prakash with his daughther. Smt. Laltesh with Sunil Kumar and after that the marriage propo sal was approval and when the marriage was performed bride was kept under 'parda' and in place of Laltesh actually the girl married was Smt, Mamta and this fact was discovered after the marriage only when the bride came back to the village of the petitioner. That fact gave a deep shock to the petitioner's family. However, since the marriage had already been taken place, the peti tioner kept quite with a thought that Smt. Mamta will also be equally good match for Sunil Kumar but position was worse to find that Smt. Mamta was a patient of mental disorder and all efforts were made by the petitioner for curing her and she was treated by the Doctors in the Mental Hospital, Shahadra, Delhi and that treatment was continued for a year but Doctors failed to cure her and opined that Smt. Mamta was suffering from incurable mental problem.

(3.) FURTHER case of the petitioner is that the divorce suit enraged the respondents and they kidnapped Shiv Kumar and Sushil Kumar, the two sons of the petitioner from village Nichi Nakur on 16-1-1994 and during the illegal custody Sushil Kumar managed to escape and had come back while Shiv Kumar was still being kept under unlawful custody by the respondents in connivance with some Police Officers. Petitioner's elder son Shiv Kumar happens to be a graduate and was making preparation, for P. S. C. Examina tions and his younger son Sushil Kumar went to Nakur tehsil head quarters to obtain a Caste Certificate which was likely to be used in the competitive examinations as the petitioner belonged to backward class. It took a lot of time at Nakur tehsil head quarters and as work was not done on that day, they came back to the house of thoir cousin sister Smt. Sumitra who was married in village Nichi Nakur and they spent the night there and in the morning of 16-1-1994 while Shiv Kumar and Sushil Kumar were making preparation for going to Nakur tehsil headquarters, respondent No. 10 Bugal came to the house of Smt. Sumitra wife of Prem Singh and enquired whether Shiv Kumar and Sushil Kumar were staying there and innocently it was reported that those 2 boys were still there. Then at about 9. 00 A. M. on 16-1-1994 respondent Nos. 1 to 12 being armed with weapons came to the house of Prem, husband of Smt. Sumitra and forcibly took Shiv Kumar and Sushil Kumar and got them a beating and took them into different vehicles under the pretext that they were wanted in some case. Respondent No. Om Singh, a Police Constable disclosed that there were warrants against those boys and thus they forcibly kidnapped those 2 boys by different vehicles. The son of Nathi a resident of village Dhanwa by chance was present at and he was class mate of respondent No, 11 and came to know that those two boys were taken away in that way and that matter was reported to the peti tioner by the said village man of Dhanwa of his return to his village. As it was late evening the petitioner could not take any action but on the next ear v morning on 17-1-1994 when he reached village Nichi Nakur, he came to know about the abduction of his two sons, namely, Shiv Kumar and Sushil Kumar by the respondents. Thereafter the petitioner went to Police Station Nakur to lodge a first information report about the abduction but the respondent No. 13 S. I. Yogendra Sharma refused to 'record a first information report. Yogendra Sharma did not allow the petitioner to lodge a first information report as the petitioner did not agree to pay an illegal gratification of Rs. 5,000 to the said Yogendra Sharma. Petitioner made his best efforts to persuade the said Yogendra Sharma and other Police Officers to get the first information report lodged as the matter was very grave but the Police Officers turned down the requests. It appeared to the petitioner that respondent Nos. 1 to 10 had already influenced the police authorities at Police Station Nakur. Then the petitioner went to Saharanpur with a mind to approach the higher authorities for necessary help but as it was night, petitioner had to stay at Siharanpjr and on 18-1-1994 he mat the Senior Superintendent of Polios and handed over him a written complaint on the basis of the scant information which he gathered by that time regarding the abduction of his two sons. A true copy of the complaint, which was handed over to the Senior Superintendent of Police on 18-1-1994, has been marked as Annexure '2' to the petition. The Senior Superintendent of Police assured the petitioner that he was going to visit Police Station Nakur on that day and so the petitioner on having assur ance, went to Police Station Naisur and waited for the S. S. P. but the S. S. P. did not visit Police Station Nakur and petitioner had to be disappointed. On the next morning that is on 19-1-1994 with some information which he had gathered by that time, filed another complaint before the S. S. P. by registered post and the copies of the said complaint petition were forwarded to Director General of Police at Lucknow and Chief Minister, U. P. and also the District Magistrate, Saharanpur. Copy of the said complaint petition has been marked as Annexure '3' to the petition.