Go Enjoy Custody”: Supreme Court Raps Gujarat Cops For Public Flogging

New Delhi: 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday admonished the Gujarat Police over its officials publicly flogging five people belonging to the Muslim community at a village in Kheda district in 2022, asking angrily from where did they draw the authority to tie people to poles and beat them up.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was hearing an appeal by four police personnel– inspector AV Parmar, sub-inspector DB Kumavat, head constable KL Dabhi and constable RR Dabhi– against the October 19, 2023 order of the Gujarat High Court by which they were sentenced to 14-day simple imprisonment for committing contempt of court for violating the Supreme Court’s guidelines about detaining and interrogating suspects.

“(Do) you have an authority under law to tie people to a pole and beat them? Go and enjoy the custody,” a furious Justice Gavai said during the hearing.

Severely reprimanding the officials, Justice Mehta said, “What kind of atrocities are these? Tying the people to a pole, beating them in public view and taking videos. Then you want this court to intervene.” Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for the officials, said they were already facing criminal prosecution, departmental proceedings and an inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

“The question here is the high court’s jurisdiction to proceed against them in contempt proceedings,” Dave said, adding no offence of wilful disobedience was made out against them in terms of the Supreme Court’s 1996 verdict in the DK Basu case where it had issued guidelines for making arrest, and detention and interrogation of suspects.