Prayagraj: Allahabad high court has dismissed a petition seeking relief to police personnel accused of repeatedly beating people in police custody and molesting women.The high court said that such violence cannot be termed a part of police duty and can only be described as a crime.Justice Madan Pal Singh observed that victims were allegedly subjected to repeated beatings in custody after their hands and feet were tied with a rope and they were laid face down.The court was hearing two applications filed by police personnel, including lady cop, challenging a trial court’s Sept 27, 2024, order rejecting their discharge applications in a case arising from Baberu police station in Banda district.The bench in its Sept 9 order said that such violence cannot be termed a part of police duty and observed, “It can only be described as a heinous crime nor can it be argued that the police merely overstepped their limits slightly in the course of an investigation”.The court said that police personnel involved in such conduct were not entitled to any protection as provided under Section 197 CrPC.The accused police personnel had sought protection on the ground that the alleged acts were committed in the course of official duties.The high court said the trial court had “not committed any error” in rejecting their discharge pleas and dismissed both applications as “devoid of merits”.In 2022, an FIR was registered at the Baberu police station under various sections of IPC. During the investigation, four constables were sent to Village Padari to serve the notices. It is alleged that the accused persons and their family members abused and assaulted the police constables.Following the incident, police force was dispatched to the village. Four women were arrested on the night of May 13, 2022, while four men, including an informant, were arrested the next day.During this police action, allegations of illegal assault, molestation, custodial violence, looting and false implication by police personnel were made by the complainant and an FIR was registered against nine named and several unknown police personnel, including the accused applicants The trial court rejected the discharge plea and it was challenged by the police personnel before the high court.
