Public flogging of handcuffed men: Gujarat government issues notice to senior IPS officer

A month ago, the High Court had asked why the officer, Rajdeepsinh Nakum, who was Deputy Commissioner of Police in Surat city at the time of the incident, was still in his post.

During a hearing on August 14, the court had verbally told the state that “the least you must do” was to transfer Nakum out of Surat.

Videos of the alleged incident, which went viral on social media, purportedly showed Nakum and 15-20 other police officers parading four handcuffed men on the road and repeatedly assaulting them with lathis.

The four men who were being beaten were identified as Ayaz Malek, Imran Khan, Rajik Shaikh, and Shahrukh Shah, all of whom had been booked in a rioting and attempt-to-murder case at the Salabatpura police station in Surat.

Nakum had told The Indian Express in July that there were “criminal cases against the accused and they had created terror in their areas, so we paraded them in their own residential area so that people know that police are vigilant and such activities will not be tolerated”.

Virk submitted before the court on Thursday that the preliminary inquiry report had been placed before the state Home Department with the recommendation of the Inspector General of Police (Law and Order).

His submissions were recorded in an oral order dictated in open court. The High Court directed the state to bring the progress of the disciplinary proceedings on record, and posted the matter for October 19.

In its oral dictation of the order, the court said: “The Home Department upon examination of the material and the recommendation, and being of the prima facie view that the act of the officer concerned while functioning as in-charge DCP Zone 2 attracts Rule 3(b)(1) and Rule 3(2) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968, has initiated action by issuance of show-cause notice dated 14-9-2026 to the officer concerned wherein 15 days’ time has been granted to…furnish his explanation.”

The proceedings before the HC stemmed from a letter addressed to Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal by advocate Utkarsh Dave July 14, seeking immediate judicial scrutiny of the videos circulating on social media that allegedly showed Nakum and the other police personnel, parading and beating the handcuffed men.

Dave alleged that the accused were dragged by their hair, slapped and beaten in full public view under the supervision of senior police officers. The representation said the conduct of the police violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

It referred to the safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court in its landmark D K Basu v State of West Bengal (1997) judgment, as well as the Gujarat High Court’s earlier proceedings concerning the Kheda flogging incident of 2022.

At the August 14 hearing, the High Court had observed that the July 14 incident had taken place in a public place and videos had circulated widely – its occurrence could not, therefore, be denied. The inquiry would determine why the incident had occurred and its gravity, the court had said.

The court formally took note of the preliminary inquiry report in its order of August 21, recording that it had perused the report, which was dated August 20, and had been submitted in a sealed cover along with the affidavit of the Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), Surat City, who had conducted the inquiry.

Thursday, responding to an oral query from the court, the state submitted that as per convention followed by the Home Department, a show-cause notice is issued even if the officer has already had an opportunity to give a statement during the preliminary inquiry. Not doing so could subsequently “become a ground for litigation”, the state said.