The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to conduct a preliminary inquiry into all the allegations levelled by a migrant family in Kochi including the one that police officials had demanded ₹5 lakh as bribe for releasing their daughters who were lodged in a care home after being traced from Delhi.
Justice Devan Ramachandran, while hearing a suo motu case registered following the allegations, observed that the VACB should look into all the allegations involved in the case and the inquiry should not merely confine to the demand of bribe alone.
The court directed the VACB to submit a comprehensive report by February 11 in a sealed cover for further orders after the inquiry.
The court observed that only if the indiscretions of a few individuals in the force were taken note of and stringent action taken, it will “serve as an example for others, leading to the force being a truly worthy one.”
The court made it clear that if, after such an inquiry, the VACB was convinced that further action was required, it could initiate action, “notwithstanding the fact that this Court has not seen their report until February 11”.
The court observed that as long as the police officers even obliquely obtained the impression that they would be supported in spite of their misdemeanours, the eventual requirements of a strong policing and honest law enforcement would remain a “chimera”.
The counsel for the victims in the case said that if a proper inquiry was conducted by the VACB or by any other competent authority, the truth will certainly come out, particularly the harrowing nature of the incidents and experience which the family had to go through. Therefore, exemplary action should be taken against the erring police officers as otherwise such incidents would take place in the future too.
