Appeal filed 2 years after ruling,HC pulls up police

An appeal against the acquittal of a man,accused of kidnapping and murder,was filed by police two years after the judgment. Irked by the delay,the Delhi High Court directed the Commissioner of Police to file a report on what action has been taken against the officials responsible for the delay. In an order issued last week,a […]

An appeal against the acquittal of a man,accused of kidnapping and murder,was filed by police two years after the judgment. Irked by the delay,the Delhi High Court directed the Commissioner of Police to file a report on what action has been taken against the officials responsible for the delay.

In an order issued last week,a bench of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice Indermeet Kaur noted that while a show cause notice had been issued to the inspector in-charge and the SHO of the police station concerned,no action had been initiated against the DCP (Legal Cell) of the area,who had slept over the matter and failed to follow up the appeal process.

The man had been acquitted in March 2011 by a sessions court in a case dating back to 2006. However,police filed the appeal in the High Court only in November 2013.

On the first date of hearing in November,the court had noted that the counsel for police had been unable to explain why there had been a delay of 845 days in filing the appeal,and where the file concerning the appeal had been stuck from June 23,2011 till May this year.

The court had sought a status report,noting that the then inspector alone cannot be made a scapegoat and higher officers cannot wash off their hands.

According to the report filed by the Joint Commissioner of Police (Outer District) earlier this month,the reference to file an appeal had been sent to the DCP (Outer District) on June 21,2011 and had been sent to the police station concerned on June 23. The DCP had then sent a reminder to the police station in November 2011,seeking information on whether the appeal had been filed,and followed up the matter only in January 2013.

In the affidavit,the Joint CP had laid the blame for the delay on the shoulders of the then SHO,the current SHO and a senior inspector of the police station,and informed the court that show cause notices had been issued to them and action would be initiated soon.

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Taking note of the affidavit,the court has noted that the apprehension raised by the court that the higher officials would escape blame has turned out to be correct.

The court observed that the action had been taken against other police officers only after the court had passed orders.

Police informed the court that the concerned DCP had in May 2011 issued instructions to all ACPs in the area to ensure timely filing of appeals and status reports before the High Court.

Though the Code of Criminal Procedure specifies a period of 60 days to six months for the state to file an appeal against acquittal,the state seems to rarely keep to the limitation period.

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Speaking to Newsline,a senior police officer confirmed that the delay in filing appeals was a regular occurrence. The files have to be cleared by various departments before appeals can be filed, the officer said.

The opinion was echoed by a prosecutor who did not wish to be named. Many times,the courts condone the delay because it happens all the time. If the judge is strict,(the court) asks for a proper explanation before condoning the delay, the prosecutor said.

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