TMI Blog1995 (5) TMI 273X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Lal Goel, respondent No. 4, went to the residence of Shri Pradeep Ram-puria at Diamond Harbour Road, Calcutta, to arrest Shri Pradeep Ram-puria, on the authority of non- bailable warrants of arrest issued against him by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hissar. Shri Pradeep Ram-puria was arrested and on 7.1.1994 itself produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore, Calcutta, who released him on bail till 15.1.1994, with a direction to appear before the competent court at Hissar. On 15.1.1994 Shri Dhananjay Sharma, the detenu, who is an employee of M/s. Golden Industries, a sister concern of M/s. CR Industries Limited, along with Shri S.C. Puri, advocate went to Hissar in a taxi (van) bearing registration no. DAE-3668 driven by Sushil Kumar. They appeared in the court of the Addl. CJM Hissar and filed an application seeking exemption from per-sonal appearance of Shri Pradeep Rampuria on medical grounds. After filing the application and obtaining the next date from the court, the detenu, Shri Dhananjay Sharma along with bis lawyer Shri S.C. Puri, left for Delhi in the same taxi car (van) driven by Sushil Kumar. A team of Haryana police officers, riding in six police ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court on 19.1.1994. Respondents 3 to 5 were also directed to file an affidavit indicating the circumstances under which they took the detenu and the driver of the taxi car, Sushil Kumar, into custody, as alleged in the petition and in the affidavit of Shri S.C. Puri. Notices by ordinary means were issued to respondents 6 and 7. On 19.1.1994 respondents 3 to 5 filed their affidavits. Shri Sham Lal Goel, Addl. Superintendent of Police, Hissar respondent No. 4 in his affidavit denied the allegations made in the writ petition as well as in the affidavit of Shri S.C. Puri, Advocate. In para 1 of the affidavit he stated: That in reply to para No. 1 of the petition it is submitted that neither of the alleged detenues, namely, Shri Dhananjay Sharma or Shri Sushil are/were wanted in any case of Hissar District, nor they were over detained or confined by any police officer/official as alleged, it is also wrong and hence denied that the said alleged detenues are or over were in the unlawful, illegal and unauthorised custody of the official respondents, as alleged. In paras 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15 (there are no paragraphs numbered as 5 to 8) the details of the case leading to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ever detained or confined by any police officer/official as alleged. It is also wrong hence denied that the said alleged detenues are or ever were in the unlawful, illegal and unauthorised custody of the official respondents, as alleged. Thereafter, respondent No. 3 referred to the investigation in connection with the FIR registered at the instance of respondent No. 6 Shri S.K. Kaushik and maintained that the dispute between the parties was not of a civil nature and went on to say: It is submitted that the petitioner has levelled these false allegations against the Hissar Police with ulterior motives in order to win the sympathy of this Hon'ble Court. In fact the deponent or any other police officer working under his command have never resorted to any such illegal activities as alleged by the petitioner in this para. The deponent is a staunch believer of rule of law and as such he cannot over think of flouting the rule of law. As already submitted in the proceeding paras of this affidavit neither Sri Dhananjay Sharma nor taxi driver Shri Sushil was ever wanted by the Hissar Police in any criminal case or were they over whisked away by the police personnel of Hissar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that he returned to Delhi alongwith Shri Dhanan-jay Sharma from Hissar on 15th January 1994 itself and left them at Daryaganj, New Delhi. The Incharge of the Police Post, Church Mission Road, S.I. Surender Kumar, has assured the presence of said Shri Sushil and the concerned vehicle in the court premises today. Further I submit that the respondents are still making efforts to trace Shri Dhananjay Sharma but as yet has no information of his whereabout specially since the police does not have any means of identifying him. On 20.1.94, Shri Sushil Kumar was produced by the Delhi Police and the detenu Shri Dhananjay Sharma on his own also appeared in the Court. Their statements were recorded on oath. Shri Dhananjay Sharma in his statement deposed about the manner in which he had been way-laid, along with others and whisked away by the Haryana Police form the Delhi-Hissar Road on 15.1.94. He then stated that the police party took him and Sushil Kumar to the Hissar Police Station where Shri Anil Davra, called them to his room and made enquiries from him regarding the case against Shri Rampuria and others. He further stated that whereas they were kept during the day at the pol ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re whisked away, the police party, was accompanied by 'two employees of BISCL, Hissar and that at the Hissar Police Station. Shri Anil Davra Superintendent of Police alongwith Shri Rajinder Singh SHO and other police officials had questioned him and repeatedly enquired from him about the whereabouts of Shri Pradeep Rampuria. He went on to say that on 17.1.94, when both he and the driver, were in the room of the SHO Hissar, there was a lot of activity and we were directed to leave the police station immediately at about 6.30 p.m. Respondent No. 6, Shri S.K. Kaushik and Respondent No. 7, Shri Anoop Bishnoi, who appeared through their counsel, were given an opportunity to file their affidavits in view of the assertions made in the affidavit of Shri Dhananjay Sharma on 22.1.94. Both Shri S.K. Kaushik Respondent No. 6 and Shri Anoop Bishnoi Respondent No. 7 filed their affidavits. Apart from dealing with the dispute between BISCL and M/s. CR Industries in general and with Shri Pradeep Rampuria in particular, (with which case we are not concerned at this stage) it is stated in their affidavits that Shri Dhananjay Sharma or the taxi driver Sushil Kumar were never in their custod ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e determination of the correctness of the two versions as noticed above. In obedience to our directions, the CBI conduced an enquiry, recorded evidence, and submitted its report under the signatures of Shri M.L. Sharma, DIC, CBI. Copies of the report and other documents were permitted to be obtained by the parties. The CBI inter alia in its report submitted : Based on the facts and evidence discussed above, the picture emerges that on 15.1.1994, Shri Dhananjay Sharma while travelling back to Delhi after attending the Court of ACJM, Hissar, alongwith Shri S.C. Puri, Advocate, in Taxi No. DAE-3668 (maruti van) driven by Shri Sushil Kumar, was intercepted by Haryana Police near Hissar Cantt., at about 12.30 p.m. Shri S.C. Puri, Advocate, was let off by the Police after 'arguments'. Shri Dhanan-jay Sharma alongwith Sushil Kumar were taken to Police Station, Sadar and confined there in a quarter behind the Police Station from 15th January, 1994 to 17th January, 1994 afternoon. This is borne out by the statements of Dhananjay Sharma, Sushil Kumar and SC Puri, Advocate. Shri Puri after being let off by the Police, made a call to Shri P.P. Malhotra, Sr. Advocate, Supreme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... etention. Therefore, the exercise conducted by Shri Anil Davra respondent No. 3 of examining the record of the police station was obviously a comaflogue and a cover up. That apart, neither Shri Anil Davra nor Shri Sham Lal goel or Shri Rajinder Singh stated in their affidavits that Dhananjay Sharma had not been called to the office of Shri Anil Davra, respondent No. 3 during the detention of Dhananjay Sharma and the taxi driver nor did respondent No. 3 refute the allegations of Dhananjay Sharma that when he was released form custody he was advised to tell Shri Rampuria to meet the police officials. None of the respondents in the counter affidavit have even stated that they had not seen the detenu in the police station between 15.1.1994 to 17.1.1994. They have remained silent on this aspect. Nothing has been brought to our notice from which the correctness of the contents of the affidavit of Shri Puri or Dhananjay Sharma about the illegal detention may be doubted. From a critical analysis of the material collected by the CBI, as Commissioners of this Court, and hearing learned counsel for the parties, we are of the opinion, that Shri Dhananjay Sharma and Sushil Kumar Taxi Driver wer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Haryana Police and briefed by them to make a false statement in the Supreme Court on 20.1.1994 denying the incident of way-laying of 15.1.94, Shri Sushil Kumar, originally hailing form U.P. is semi-literate and simple person who has been living in Delhi for the last 6/7 years for making a living. Because of the inconsistent posture adopted by him, he was cau-tioned to make a correct statement before the CBI. He was firm that he was making a correct statement before the CBI and regrets having made a false statement in the Supreme Court earlier on the advice of Haryana Police. He also agreed to have his statement taperecorded in presence of independent witnesses. This lends assurance to the conclusion that the statement being made by him now is a correct version of facts and this finds corroboration in the statement of Dhananjay Sharma and Shri S.C. Puri, Advocate. Shri Puri, Advocate, is a professional and despite the fact of his having been engaged by the petitioner in the impugned criminal case, he appears to have no axe to grid with any party and as such there appears to be no reason for his making a false statement before the Supreme Court and the CBI. In fact, his version finds ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ponse to the show cause notice in the contempt proceedings also tendered an unqualified apology. He gave an account of his duties during his service career and filed copies of various commendation and appreciation certificates received by him from various quarters. He then went on to say that the instant case, in my humble submission: is just an inadvert mishap of my life resulting into present unsavory situation . Respondent No. 4 Sham Lal Goel, Additional Superintendent of Police in his affidavit filed on 21.10.1994 in the contempt proceedings first assorted that his role in the investigation of the case was restricted to a period of six days only i.e. from 4.1.1994 to 9.1.1994 and that the Superintendent of Police, Shri Anil Davra, was concerned with the investigation and being his superior officer, he had acted under his directions. He then again stated that the answering respondent was not connected with the incidents of way laid (sic) and detaining of Sushil Kumar or Dhananjay Sharma in any manner , and that he had no hand in the filing of the affidavit by Respondent No. 3 on 20.1.94. He went on to add: On 18.1.94 the answering respondent received a message, t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... He also wrote a D.O. letter to Shri Rudra and that after 20.1.94, he had asked the Legal Department and the senior counsel as to whether any further action was required to be taken by him and in particular whether in view of the fact that the detenues had appeared before the court on 20.1.94, any affidavit was required to be filed by him and that he was advised by senior counsel that on his reading of the order no affidavit needed to be filed by him as the State had not produced the detenues . Respondent No. 1 then explained the procedure which was being followed by the State of Haryana in connection with petitions for habeas corpus and stated that : Although the State of Haryana is impleaded in criminal writs in the name of Home Secretary, the practice so far has been that in matter which are directly within the knowledge of the local police, it is they who depose an affidavit on behalf of the State. The system was evolved since it obviates a lot of delay which would necessarily occur in information being passed from one centre to another. It is for this reason that the officers directly dealing with the matter and who are themselves a part of the law enforcement agency dire ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 20.1.94 and that it was only upon a request made by him, that the copy of the affidavit was later on sent to him at Chandigarh. He then went on to refer to some of the evidence recorded by the CBI and its report and stated : I am to state that I have not conduced any enquiry, nor examined any witnesses or documents, in this case. I have, however, no reason whatsoever to differ from the prima facie conclusions arrived at by the CBI on the basis of the oral and documentary evidence mar-shalled by them. Respondent No. 2 thereafter dealt specifically with the statement made by Shri Dawra in his affidavit dated 19.1.94 and 20.1.94 denying the allegations made in the petition and deposed: The CBI enquiries on the other hand have shown that this version does not appear to be correct. I would, therefore, respectfully submit that this part of the affidavit of Shri Dawra, which is contrary to facts found through examination of witnesses and other enquiries by the CBI, is not accepted by me. In his affidavit dated 21.10.94, in the proceedings for perjury, Shri Anil Dawra respondent No. 3, once again denied the allegations contained in the petition regarding the way-layin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... counsel before this Hon'ble Court during the course of hearing that he was not taken away any where by the answering respondent on 19.1.94. Shri Sushil Kumar has stated in unequivocal term that Shri Rajinder Singh SHO alone had tutored him to make a false statement before the court on the 19.1.94 and again on the morning of 20.1.94. The answering respon-dent had visited the Police Post, Church Mission Road, Fatehpuri, Delhi under the orders of Shri Anil Dawra, Superintendent of Police only to verify that Shri Sushil Kumar has been traced out so that his presence before the Court on 20.1.94 had been ensured. After verify-ing the facts, the answering respondent conveyed the facts to the Superintendent of Police Shri Anil Dawra. Thereafter the answering respondent returned to his room in Haryana Bbawan, where he was staying separately and he had no communication either with the Superintendent of Police or the SHO during that night. The answering respondent has not influenced or tried to influence Sushil Kumar in any manner to make a false statement. The answering respondent has unfortunately been bracketed alongwith respondents 3 and 5 only because of his being a subordinate to Sh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... idavits filed by respondents 3 to 5 denying the way-laying of the detenu and others on 15.1.94 and their subsequent detention at the police station are false. (f) That the affidavit filed by respondent No. 3 on 20.1.94 on behalf of respondents 1 to 5 was filed by him without the express knowledge of respondents 1 and 2 and both of them had not seen the said affidavit till its copy was supplied to them by the counsel for the State of Haryana. (g) That both the statements made by Sushil Kumar driver in the court on 20.1.94 and his affidavit dated 22.1.1994 supporting the version of respondents 3 to 5 are false. (h) That respondents 4 and 5 had met Sushil Kumar driver at Delhi and pressurised him to give a tutored false version in this Court. (i) That the false statement and affidavit were made by Sushil Kumar on being tutored by respondents 4 and 5 and on account of the fear of the Hissar Police on 20.1.94 and 22.1.94 respectively. (j) That respondents 6 and 7 are not concerned either with the filing of the false affidavits by respondent No. 3 to 5 or for tutoring of Sushil Kumar, by respondents 4 and 5, to make a false statement and file a false affidav ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ned by anyone resorting to filing of false affidavits or giving of false statements and fabricating false evidence in a court of law. The stream of justice has to be kept clear and pure and anyone soiling its purity must be dealt with sternly so that the message perculates loud and clear that no one can be permitted to undermine the dignity of the court and interfere with the due course of judicial proceedings or the administration of justice. In Chandra Shashi v. Anil Kumar Verma, [1995] 1 SCC 421, the respondent produced a false and fabricated certificate to defeat the claim of the respondent for transfer of a case. This action was found to be an act amounting to interference with the administration of justice. Brother Han-saria, J. speaking for the Bench observed : the stream of administration of justice has to remain unpolluted so that purity of court's atmosphere may give vitality to all the organs of the State. Polluters of judicial firmament are, therefore, required to be well taken care of to maintain the sublimity of court's environment; so also to enable it to administer justice fairly and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Anyone who takes recourse to fra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Majesty of Law. Under the circumstances, the question of accepting their belated apology for which a very strong plea was made by their learned counsel, Mr. R.K. Jain, Mr. Natarajan and Mr. Lalit does not arise and we have no hesitation whatsoever in rejecting the belated apologies tendered by respondents 3 to 5, which we do not find to be genuine, bonafide or expression of true repentance. From the facts set out above and the findings recorded by the CBI, respondents 3 to 5 have, thus committed a grave contempt of this Court by not only interfering with the due course of justice but also making calculated and deliberate attempts to obstruct the administration of justice. Besides respondents 4 and 5, as already noticed, have aggravated their contumacious acts by tampering with the evidence during the pen-dency of proceedings in this court. They have deflected the course of judicial proceedings. Both of them, therefore, deserve to be punished properly not only for the wrong done by them but also to give a proper signal and deter others from indulging in similar type of activities. In our opinion, the interest of public justice demands a deterrent sentence to be imposed upon th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... have committed any contempt of this Court. The rule against them is accordingly discharged. So far as respondent No. 1 Mr. A.N. Mathur, Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Haryana, Home Department is concerned, he did not file any counter affidavit to the rule nisi issued by this Court. Even in response to the specific directions of this Court dated 19.1.94, he chose not to file a counter affidavit. Complaints regarding detention of citizens cannot be permitted to be treated in such a casual manner by the State. Whenever a question is raised regarding the illegal detention of a citizen in a writ of Habeas Corpus and the court issues the rule nisi, a duty is cast on the State, through its functionaries and particularly those who are arrayed as respondents to the writ petition, to satisfy the court that the detention of the citizen was legal and in conformity not only with the mandatory requirements of the law but also with the requirements implicit in Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India. It is obligatory on the part of the respondent State to place before the Court all relevant facts relating to the impugned detention truly, clearly and with utmost fairness th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yana Police officials respondent Nos. 4 and 5 had traced the taxi and had met Sushil Kumar before he was produced in Court. Respondent No. 1 was therefore duty bound to place this information before the court and to obey the directions of this Court and file his affidavit. We fail to understand why any advice was required by him from a senior counsel as to whether or not to comply with the order of this Court. The directions of this Court are meant to be complied with and punctually obeyed by all concerned. We have no reason to doubt that a senior IAS Officer of the status of the Home Secretary of a State would not be aware of the provisions of Article 144 of the Constitution which mandates that all authorities, civil and judicial, in the territory of India shall act in aid of the Supreme Court . These authorities are legally obliged not only to act in aid of the Supreme Court for the enforcement of the law declared by the Supreme Court but also in aid of all its orders, decrees or directions. Respondents No. 1, by not filing the reply affidavit acted in a casual manner. Respondent No. 1 in his affidavit dated 21.10.94 has detailed the system and procedure which was being follo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ling the affidavit in response to the rule nisi and the directions given by this Court but he submitted that the lapse had occurred on account of a wrong understanding of the import of the order of the Court and faulty advice given to him. He submitted that Respondent No. 1 was truly sorry for his lapses and requested for his apology to be accepted. From a consideration of the material on the record, we find that respondent No. 1 appears to have followed a faulty system, which was prevailing in the State of Haryana in cases involving detention of the citizens in the matter of filing of counter affidavit in petitions for habeas corpus and on a wrong understanding of the import of the order of this Court. We are, however, satisfied that the unqualified apology tendered by him is genuine and an expression of real contriteness and repentance. Therefore, while cautioning him to be careful in future, we accept his unqualified apology and the contempt proceedings initiated against him are allowed to rest here. The rule issued against him is discharged. We hope that such lapses shall not occur in the future, since the system, we have been assured, has now been revamped. So far as res ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o by him in this Court and for his attempt to poison the stream of justice. However, taking the mitigating circumstances also into consideration, we sentence him to one days' simple imprisonment and to a fine of ₹ 1000 and in default to further undergo fifteen days simple imprisonment, for commit- ting contempt of this Court. Since, from the report of the CBI and our own independent appraisal of the evidence recorded bv the CBI, we have come to the conclusion that Shri Dhananjay Sharma and Sushil Kumar had been illegally detained by respondents 3 to 5 from the afternoon of 15.1.94 to 17.1.94, the State must be held responsible for the unlawful acts of its officers and it must repair the damage done to the citizens by its officers for violating their indivisible fundamental right of personal liberty without any authority of law in an absolutely high-handed manner. We would have been, therefore, inclined to direct the State Government of Haryana to compensate Dhananjay Sharma and Sushil Kumar but since Sushil Kumar has indulged in false-hood in this Court and Shri Dhananjay Sharma, has also exaggerated the incident by stating that on 15.1.94 when he was way laid along wi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ved and it was this purpose for which it exists. But to our dismay, it is distressing to note that quite often when every morning one opens the newspapers and goes through its various columns, one feels very much anguished and depressed in reading reports of custodial rapes and deaths, kidnapping, abduction and faked police encounters and all sorts of other offences and lawlessness by the police personnel, of which countless glaring and concrete examples are not lacking. It is in common knowledge that in recent times our administrative system is passing through a most practical phase, particularly, the policing system which is not as effective as it ought to be and unless some practical correctional steps and measures are taken without further delay, the danger looms large when the whole orderly society may be in jeopardy. It would, indeed, be a sad day if the general public starts entertaining an impression that the police force does not exist for the protection of society's benefits but it operates mainly for its own benefit and. once such an impression conies to prevail, it would lead to disastrous consequences. In the instant case before us as noticed and high-lighted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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