A Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court on October 19 sentenced four policemen to 14 days’ imprisonment with a fine of ₹2,000, in a contempt of court case related to the public flogging of several Muslim men by the police in Kheda district of Gujarat in October 2022.
The court said the actions of the policemen, had violated the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the D.K. Basu case, to be followed during arrest and detention.
Failing to pay the fine would attract further simple imprisonment of three days, the Bench said. It, however, stayed the operation of the order for three months after the accused sought time to appeal against the sentence.
The court’s ruling came after five men from the minority community declined to accept the monetary compensation from the four policemen who were found guilty of flogging them.
The Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Gita Gopi termed the flogging as “inhumane” and an “act against humanity” while stressing that even those who are were arrested by the police have the “right to life” which also includes living “life with dignity”.
Moreover, the court also noted that the flogging had inflicted physical torture which can also cause humiliation. It held that once a person is in the custody of the police, “his dignity cannot be allowed to be comatose”.
According to the Bench, the accused policemen “have defiled the human rights and dignity of the complainants as if they were conferred with the privilege to do so”.
The Bench also noted, “The Supreme Court’s directions have fallen on deaf ears and there seems to be no improvement on the state of affairs. The guidelines are blatantly violated and ignored, perhaps with the expectations of gaining Yellow Pages fame and with self-assurance and self-security of being immune to legal consequences.”
In October 2022, a group of 150-200 people from the Muslim community allegedly pelted stones at a garba event during Navaratri festivities inside a temple at Undhela village in Kheda district. After the incident, the police arrested several people, some of whom were allegedly publicly flogged after being tied to a pole. Videos, purportedly showing the incident, had gone viral on social media.
In its order, the court said it refuses to accept an unconditional apology from the policemen. “An apology cannot wipe out the scars from the psyche of the complainants,” it said and added that accepting an apology would amount to travesty of justice.
“The feeling of getting humiliated to the extent that it obliterates the sense of being human is legally not acceptable. The acceptance of apology will send a wrong message to society at large. And everybody who has committed such an inhuman act will cultivate a feeling of being pardoned by the court of law, and who has yet not engaged in such an act, would be encouraged to do so.”
In the strongly worded order, the Bench observed, “If the functionaries of the government become law-breakers, it is bound to breed contempt of law and would encourage lawlessness and every man would have the tendency to become law unto themselves thereby leading to anarchy.”
The Bench also quoted late human rights crusader and Nobel laureate Mother Teresa while saying, “Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government, they are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of humanity. The right of life does not depend and must not be contingent on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign.”
Earlier on Monday, the Gujarat High Court was informed that the five victims had refused to accept monetary compensation from four policemen, who earlier contended that they would offer monetary compensation to the victims in order to escape contempt of court punishment.
The victims had moved the Gujarat High Court pleading that 13 police officers who were part of the group be held accountable for contempt of court and non-compliance of the directions and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.
Acting on the plea, the High Court had directed a magisterial inquiry which zeroed in on four of the 13 accused policemen, whose identity was established based on photos and videos of the incident. The court then framed charges against the four — A.V. Parmar, D.B. Kumavat, Laxmansinh Kanaksinh Dabhi, and Rajubhai Dabhi — under the Contempt of Courts Act.
Earlier during the hearing, the accused submitted that the act of flogging, by hitting the victims on their buttocks with sticks, did not amount to custodial torture. They had also suggested that they may be allowed to settle the dispute by offering monetary compensation since any action under the contempt of court proceedings would severely affect their career.
After the Division Bench was informed about the decision of the complainants, the Bench recorded that the parties have failed to enter into compromise.
