‘Sorry state of affairs’: Allahabad HC on retired Army man’s plea alleging police torture

A Bench of Justices Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Gautam Chowdhary on Thursday said “the matter is serious and requires a serious consideration by this Court”.

The Allahabad High Court has observed that the petition filed by a former Army personnel who has accused police officials in Pilibhit of torturing and humiliating him “prima facie, shows a very sorry state of affairs and police atrocities”.

A Bench of Justices Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Gautam Chowdhary on Thursday said “the matter is serious and requires a serious consideration by this Court”.

The court directed the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) to file a personal counter-affidavit and specify if any action had been taken in the matter. The court listed the matter for hearing on July 7.

The petition heard by the court was filed by former Army official Resham Singh (41) who has alleged that on May 3 the policemen tortured him while his mother and two sisters were humiliated and harassed.

According to the petition, the incident occurred when he was going to Lakhimpur Kheri with his mother and sisters following the death of his brother-in-law Karam Jeet Singh.

Singh, whose lawyer says he served in the Army for 15 years, alleged that while he was on his way, policemen stopped his car around 9 am in Pilibhit’s Puranpur area. They asked him for the vehicle’s papers.

According to the petition, “the police officials who were involved” were Inspector Ram Naresh Singh, Inspector Raees Ahmed and “05-06 unknown Police Constables who can be identified by the victim”.

According to the petition, when the former Army man was taking out the papers “the police officials out of the blue started abusing the victim and his family members, which included his mother and two sisters”. The petitioner told the policemen that he was a retired service member.

As per the petition, Ram Naresh Singh and his colleagues responded by beating Resham Singh. “The said police officials also started beating the mother and sisters of the victim. A video clip showing the police officials beating the victim is with the petitioner,” read the plea.

The petitioner and his family members were then taken to a police station, where he “was disrobed and then tied up on a cot and brutally beaten up by the said police officials for two continuous hours using ‘Dandas’… Fist and leg blows and gave him third-degree torture only to satisfy their ego”, said the plea.

Resham Singh alleged that “the police officials did not stop at physical torture… but in order to further humiliate the Victim, they threatened the victim that they will cut his unshorn hair in order to teach him a lesson of his life”.

The retired Army man also accused the police of crossing “all limits” when they “inserted a ‘Danda/Lathi’ inside the victim’s anus/rectum with an intention to humiliate him and crush his self-respect and to scar the victim for life”.

At the hearing, the court said the case prima facie “indicates breach of fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India”.

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