“Constable’s conduct unusual”: Delhi HC acquits man accused of theft and drugging cop in 2011

According to the complainant, constable Devender Kumar was approached by the accused—Shashank—in 2011 while he was on his way home from duty at around midnight, with the man purportedly seeking Kumar’s help as his friend had met with an accident.

The court pointed out that the constable’s conduct, “in the absence of any other explanations, appears unusual and inconsistent with the caution expected of a trained police officer, especially at midnight.”

Holding that the testimony of a Delhi police constable who was allegedly drugged and looted was not reliable, the Delhi High Court on Monday acquitted a man who had been sentenced to over two years’ imprisonment in 2015.

According to the complainant, constable Devender Kumar was approached by the accused—Shashank—in 2011 while he was on his way home from duty at around midnight, with the man purportedly seeking Kumar’s help as his friend had met with an accident.

Kumar claimed that he then accompanied the accused in the latter’s car to the nearest petrol pump. Further, he added that he accepted a cold drink from Shashank, and then fell unconscious.

Upon regaining consciousness, Kumar discovered that his watch, mobile phone, wallet, ATM card, identity card, driving licence, and his motorcycle (including Rs 73,000 kept in its toolbox) were missing.

Kumar subsequently lodged an FIR at Kashmere Gate police station.

However, Kumar refused medical examination; therefore, police could not verify whether an intoxicating substance had been administered to him.

Meanwhile, the accused had challenged the prosecution’s story as “improbable”, questioning why a trained police officer would voluntarily sit in the car of a stranger around midnight, accompany him to a petrol pump, pay for petrol for him, and consume a cold drink offered by him, without any suspicion or verification.

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The petrol pump employees too were unable to identify the complainant.

Agreeing with the accused’s contentions, Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri recorded that Kumar’s “version is not credible”, while noting that the prosecution had failed to prove its case and the complainant constable’s version “appears unusual and inconsistent with the caution expected of a trained police officer.”

The court stated, “(Kumar) is a trained police constable, who had amassed nearly two decades of experience with the Delhi police at the time of the incident. The prosecution narrative suggests that he voluntarily sat in a stranger’s car at midnight, went to a petrol pump with him, paid for petrol, and consumed a cold drink offered by him. The complainant did not call PCR at any point.”

Further, the court pointed out that the constable’s conduct, “in the absence of any other explanations, appears unusual and inconsistent with the caution expected of a trained police officer, especially at midnight.”

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While highlighting that the prosecution had not provided any explanation for Kumar’s conduct, the HC recorded that Kumar’s “refusal to undergo medical examination, when such an examination could have conclusively proved the administration of an intoxicating substance to him, a fact which goes to the very root of the present matter, casts a shadow of doubt over the veracity of his claims.”