Prayagraj: Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) to conduct a discreet and independent inquiry into how an SUV, seized in an excise case, was allegedly taken out of police custody for a raid and later involved in a fatal road accident that claimed the life of a woman.The court directed the state police chief to complete the probe within eight weeks and submit a compliance report.High Court also took strong exception to the police department awarding only “censure entries” to the personnel involved.While dismissing a petition filed by vehicle owner Rahul alias Dharam Dev challenging the confiscation of his SUV, Justice Anil Kumar-X observed that although the confiscation order suffered from no legal infirmity, the handling of the seized vehicle by officials of Ramghat police station in Bulandshahr reflected serious administrative lapses.“The award of a mere censure entry, without any apparent consideration of the gravity of the alleged misconduct, the consequences of the unauthorised use of the vehicle and the possibility of criminal liability, prima facie appears wholly inadequate,” the judge observed.The XUV was seized on April 16, 2021, after Ramghat police allegedly recovered 19 cartons of illicit liquor from it. While confiscation proceedings were pending before the Bulandshahr district magistrate, the vehicle was allegedly taken out of the police station on June 4, 2021.The state counsel informed the court that head moharrir Sita Ram, in collusion with constables Pankaj Rana and Narendra Singh, handed over the seized vehicle for a raid to nab a wanted accused. The act was allegedly carried out without the knowledge of the then station house officer (SHO), Birendra Singh.Three days later, on June 7, 2021, the vehicle met with an accident in Mathura’s Raya area. The crash critically injured the parents of one Manoj Kumar, and his mother later succumbed to her injuries.Mathura police subsequently registered an FIR and seized the vehicle again.When High Court sought details of the action taken against the police personnel, it was informed that the then Bulandshahr SSP had closed departmental proceedings after awarding censure entries to the head moharrir and the two constables.The court noted that the incident was not a routine procedural lapse but involved the “unauthorised removal and use of a seized vehicle, breach of entrusted custody and conduct resulting in the vehicle being involved in a fatal accident”.The bench directed the DGP to examine whether the conduct of the police personnel attracts criminal offences, including theft, criminal misappropriation or criminal breach of trust. The inquiry will also examine the role of the then SHO and the then Bulandshahr SSP.“If seized vehicles are permitted to be removed from police custody and used without lawful authority, and the consequences are thereafter dealt with merely by imposing nominal departmental punishments, it would seriously undermine public confidence in the administration of criminal justice,” the court observed in its Sept 22 order.
