March 26, 2010
The Delhi High Court on Thursday awarded a compensation of Rs 5.62 lakh to a person, who was falsely implicated in 18 criminal cases by the police.
Prempal had sought a compensation of Rs 60 lakh from the Delhi Police for implicating him in 18 false cases between 1991 and 2007. But he got only a fraction of his claims.
The court directed Delhi Police commissioner Y. S. Dadwal to compensate the victim as well as tender a written apology to the victim and his family for their suffering.
"If the confidence has to be restored among the citizenry that the police are meant to protect their rights, then such an expression of contrition by those at the helm is imperative," the court said.
The court asked Dadwal to review the criminal cases pending against Prempal and asked him to take a decision within four weeks on whether these cases needed to be pursued against him.
Prempal was slapped with the cases because he had dared to take on the local policemen after they refused to return his household goods recovered from robbers.
"It started in 1991 when I filed an FIR of theft at my house. The police after arresting the accused and recovering the household goods did not return it. I took on the police and registered a case against them. After that a vigilance inquiry was done and the officials were suspended," "In revenge, the police destroyed 15 years of my life and my family by implicating me in false cases but could not prove any of the cases," he added.
Out of the 18 cases, he was acquitted in 13 after facing a prolonged trial. However in five cases, the police managed to get him convicted, which included four cases of theft and one under the Arms Act.
Prempal moved the high court in 2006 against the Delhi Police for falsely implicating him in a rape case of a minor girl in 2002.
The police accused him of raping the daughter of his landlord as he was having frequent quarrels with him. He was arrested, tortured in custody and suffered incarceration in jail for nearly seven years. Prempal was acquitted by a trial court in September 2004.
The trial court in its order had stated that the police officers involved in framing the case against Prempal should be given exemplary punishment, but the Delhi Police did not abide by it.
"I consider this as an eye-opener case, which reveals the manner in which police lets off real culprits and falsely implicates innocent persons, who dare ask for justice or who want erring police officers to be brought to book," the court observed.
"The torture of Prempal has converted him into a living corpse. It is a case which shows that the police force has persons of criminal character in it, who are out to damage the whole institution and need to be weeded out," the court added.
In all the five cases in which Prempal was convicted, the FIRs were lodged at the Sangam Vihar police station.
Four out of the five cases in which he was convicted were registered in 1999 under sections 457/ 380/ 411 of IPC related to trespass and house break- in by night to commit offence. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 18 months in each of the cases. However, Prempal was acquitted in seven similar cases.
The fifth conviction was under sections 25/ 27/ 54 and 59 of the Arms Act in which he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and six months and was fined Rs 100.
But he was acquitted in three other cases under the Arms Act.
Prempal was also acquitted in a case (FIR No 117/ 1991) where he was charged under sections 302/ 34 IPC. The Sangam Vihar police not only implicated him but also his son Sanjay and his wife. The court expressed surprise over the Delhi Police continuing to dub Prempal as a " hardened criminal". " Despite so many acquittals, the Delhi Police continue to dub him as a hardened criminal, this is an appellation that is at once unfair and unjustified.
The most precious years of his life were spent in trying to defend himself against these false cases," Justice S. Murlidhar said.
"What is disconcerting is the number of cases registered at the same police station and the ordeal that Prempal has had to undergo over several years to get relieved of the cases," he added.
Case Record:
18 false cases slapped against him
5 cases in which he was convicted
7 years Prempal had to spend in jail
Rs 5.62 lakh compensation awarded to him by the Delhi High Court
Rs 60 lakh compensation he had claimed for the harassment meted out to him
Download Full Judgment here::
http://lobis.nic.in/dhc/SMD/judgement/25-03-2010/SMD25032010CW110792006.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment