SC slams UP police for implicating Dalit in false case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh police for putting a Dalit in jail in false cases, and asked a senior officer, "What if your own son gets implicated like this in some other state."

Ravi (28), a resident of Baghpat, was suspected to have run away with a girl from a different community.

The police arrested him in cases of carrying narcotics and assaulting the woman.

"How can the protectors become predators? This is why the state is not coming up well," an anguished bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

"Law and order situation in the state has been able to do well. Despite all caste equations, police must be able to protect the innocent," the bench said.

The court told IG police Ram Kumar, who was personally present before it, to monitor and complete the probe launched against the accused police officers, by September 27.

After going through the transcript of conversations suggesting a wider role of different police officers in the entire episode, the bench asked the officer, "Imagine your own son getting implicated in some false case in some other state".

The bench orally asked the officer to tell the director general of police to hold back confirmation of a probationary IPS officer, then Additional SP Sanjiv Suman for his involvement in the entire episode.

The court sought the personal presence of the Additional SP before it.

Ravi, hailing from western Uttar Pradesh, remained behind the bars for three-and-half months, before the top court ordered his release on September 16, 2015, as a khap panchayat accused him of having run away with a girl of a higher case.

His family, including two sisters, had barely managed to escape after the rape threat.

On a petition filed by Ravi's sister Meenakshi Kumari, the court had earlier directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to him.

It also directed the police to file a closure report against Ravi in a narcotics case.