Allahabad High Court raps police, says no to police encounters
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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted bail to an accused and rapped the police over frequent incidents of firing at the accused in the knee or below, PTI reported.
The court also hinted that such encounters were staged for an out of turn promotion or to become famous in social media.
"Such (an) act is not permissible in the eyes of law as the power of punishment to the accused is within the domain of judiciary and not in the domain of police. India is a democratic country. It has to be run as per the ethos and directions of the Constitution of India which clearly distinguishes the role of legislature, executive and judiciary," the court said.
Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, while granting bail to Raju alias Raj Kumar, said the officers cannot be allowed to punish a criminal by "unnecessary firing and causing injuries even on non-vital part."
Following an earlier direction of the court, Sanjay Prasad, Additional Home Secretary, UP and Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna appeared before the high court on Friday through video conferencing.
Both of them submitted circulars dated August 1, 2017, and October 11, 2024, which were issued to comply with the direction of the apex court in the case of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) vs State of Maharashtra (2014) regarding police encounter wherein death or grievous injuries occurred.
However, not being satisfied with their answers, the court directed that there should be an investigation by CBCID or a police team of any other police station in case an encounter takes place and results in grievous injury to the accused.