India Today : Govt to compensate victims for wrongful implication by police

Govt to compensate victims for wrongful implication by police

Ayesha Arvind   |   Mail Today  |   New Delhi, December 27, 2013 | UPDATED 10:39 IST

The police as well as the government will now have to pay a heavy price if any innocent person is wrongly implicated in any case, including those of sexual assault and terror cases.

The Supreme Court has said that "the people who are framed up are also victims of crime and hence, the authorities are obligated to pay compensation to them for agony and harassment."

Parvez Ahmad Radoo was falsely branded as a terrorist by the Delhi Police

Sending across a message loud and clear on zero-tolerance against wrongful implication, the SC order has come following a trial court verdict of Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau whereby, she said that every person framed was also a victim of crime and hence state agencies must cough up adequate compensation to make up for its blatant abuse of power and the loss of reputation of the victim.

Lau was hearing a matter involving four youths who spent considerable time in jail because of false charges followed by a police probe full of lapses.

'Victims of crime'

On January 29, 2010, four youths Dalip, Deepak, Ravinder and Vikas were arrested by the police and charged with offences of robbery and attempt to cause death or grievous hurt. The police officials, posted with the Jahangirpuri police station, claimed that at around 5 am, they found the four accused running and another person, identified as Nitin, following them.

Nitin informed them that the four persons had robbed him of his wallet and mobile phone and also threatened to kill him. The police arrested the four and charged them under sections 392, 397, 411 of the IPC and the matter was taken up by a court. However, during the proceedings, Nitin, testified that he had given a false testimony against the four at the behest of a businessman.

The court then directed the Crime Branch to inquire into the case and it was revealed that the four had been falsely implicated and that the police failed to discover it during its probe. In the meanwhile, the four had already spent a "considerable time" in jail, the court noted.

Lau also said "serious constitutional and human right violations" had been observed in the case since all the accused had no past criminal record, and yet had to suffer detention and trial for an offence they didn't commit.

Considering rampant cases of abuse of power by the police and the state, and citing previous Apex Court orders, she said it was necessary to educate ourselves into accepting that respect for rights of individuals was a true bastion of democracy and "therefore, it was necessary for the State to repair the damage done to the citizens."

The court ordered a compensation of Rs.50,000 to each of them. While accepting that a serious "lapse" had been committed, the police and the state opposed the compensation saying that the court had no jurisdiction over it.

The police approached the Delhi High Court, against ASJ Lau's order. The HC however, junked the appeal, and upheld the trial court ruling. The officials then approached the SC that has now dismissed the same and approved the trail court verdict.