The Gujarat High Court on January 18 asked the 15 police personnel who were allegedly involved in the public flogging of Muslim men in Kheda district during a garba event last year to appear before the court in connection with a contempt petition. The contempt petition was moved by five Muslim victims of the public flogging in October 2022 against 15 police personnel, including Ahmedabad range IG, Kheda Superintendent of Police (SP), 10 constables of Matar police station and local crime branch at Kheda, police inspector of Kheda local crime branch, and 2 PSIs - one of Matar police station and other of Kheda local crime branch. The court has asked the 15 policemen to register their appearance before it in their individual capacities by the next date of hearing, or else the court will proceed in accordance with law. The petitioners have sought in their petition that the 15 police officials be “punished for contempt and non-compliance” of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of DK Basu versus the State of West Bengal, which provides for guidelines to be followed by police during arrest and detention, and have also sought that the petitioners be awarded adequate compensation. While notice was issued in October with the returnable date kept for December 12 at the time, no reply has been filed till date by the accused cops, and neither have they engaged any lawyer so far. The accused policemen continue to serve in the local crime branch (LCB) with no punitive actions taken by the state administration as well,according to the petitioners’ counsel, senior advocate IH Syed. Taken up by the division bench of Justices NV Anjaria and Niral Mehta, Syed submitted on Wednesday, “They’re not even transferred, they’re working in LCB, prime posting.This is not an adversarial litigation, but this is something extremely blatant - taking in illegal custody, getting in police vehicles, making videos and posting on social media, by the policemen themselves. And now they are being continued in the same position, what is the message being sent? We made representations to DG, IG, that please remove them (accused cops), they (petitioners) are being intimidated, but absolutely nothing (has been done).” The division bench has now kept the matter for further hearing on January 30, by when the policemen are expected to file reply affidavits. It is the case of the petitioners that on October 3 at around 11 pm, an altercation had broken out at Undhela village in Kheda district, arising out of garba festivities, after the arrival of MLA of Matar Keshrisinh Solanki and his entourage. Thereafter, 11 police personnel, who have named as respondents in the petition, had arrived at the scene and detained “innocent persons including the petitioners”, and according to the petitioners, at around 2 am, the police personnel had also entered the house of a lady named Maksudabanu (one of the petitioner), in the absence of any lady constable, and was beaten up by one of the police personnel leaving her injured. The petitioners were then taken to SOG police station at Kheda and were kept in illegal detention overnight. The petitioners have further submitted that on October 4 at around 12 pm, the petitioners and five others were brought back to Undhela village Masjid chowk, tied to a pole in the middle of the chowk and were beaten up by 13 police personnel using lathi in front of a crowd. Videos were recorded and circulated in the public by the police personnel, according to the petitioners. They were later taken to Matar police station and were formally shown to be arrested on October 4 at 9:15 pm. The petitioners have submitted that they were presented before the magistrate on October 5 at 2 pm.
