Prayagraj: A judicial officer’s authority in any legal matter takes precedence over the powers vested in the district magistrate, SP or even the political head of a state, Allahabad high court has said while initiating contempt proceedings against two police officers in UP’s Lalitpur for disregarding the chief judicial magistrate’s orders.“Anyone entering court has to give respect to the chair…District juridical officers are the backbone of the judiciary, and disrespecting or disregarding their orders is absolutely unpardonable,” Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal said in his Feb 19 verdict, rejecting the personal affidavits filed by both officers regarding their failure to comply with the CJM’s orders.The original case pertains to the allegedly illegal arrest of a suspect named Sanu, alias Rashid, on charges of financial fraud last Sept.Citing case records, Justice Deshwal noted that the SHO of Lalitpur’s Kotwali police station and the designated investigating officer (IO) in the case had repeatedly ignored the district CJM’s orders to submit a report on the circumstances in which accused Sanu had been arrested along with CCTV footage from the police station. The CJM had also sought an explanation for a woman, identified as co-accused Rashida, being taken into custody at 4am in violation of rules.The bench ordered “custody in the courtroom till the rising of this court” for SHO Anurag Awasthi and IO Narendra Singh, pointing out that while both of them had apologised, their affidavits contained “no plausible reason” for disregarding the CJM’s directives.“This court is aware of the power of courts in bail matters, but the issue here is regarding illegal arrest and not providing the CCTV footage to the CJM. This court cannot shut its eyes, as the question is not only the violation of personal liberty of a person enshrined in Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India, but also disregard to the order of the judicial authorities, which has the effect of demeaning the authority of law,” Justice Deshwal said.The bench noted that CCTV cameras not being properly maintained had become “routine” across police stations in UP, affecting those illegally taken into custody the most. It directed the CJMs of all districts to randomly visit police stations to check if CCTV cameras are functioning, based on a Supreme Court order mandating CCTV surveillance and preservation of footage to curb custodial torture.The court also directed the UP govt to pay bail applicant Rs 1 lakh in compensation, saying it was at liberty to recover this amount from the salaries of the police personnel responsible for his arrest.
