New Delhi: A city police official has
been imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 by a Delhi court for his
failure to verify properly whether a robbery case accused,
facing trial before it, was actually dead or trying to avoid
court feigning death.
"I impose a cost of Rs 10,000 on the Station House
Officer (SHO) of the Keshav Puram police station. The fine
shall be deducted from his salary. Copy of this order be sent
to the Commissioner of Police for compliance," Additional
Sessions Judge Sanjay Kumar said, while imposing the fine.
On April 30, the judge had ordered the SHO to depute a
sub-inspector rank official to properly verify if the robbery
case accused Shibu Kumar was actually dead.
Facing trial for his involvement in a robbery case
with two others, Shibu had been granted bail earlier but had
stopped attending court with his counsel informing that he was
dead.
At this, the court had ordered the Keshav Puram police
to properly verify if the accused was actually dead. The
Keshav Puram police, in turn, had entrusted the job to a
trainee police official, who was not permanently posted at the
police station.
The trainee official on April 30 appeared before the
court with a purported death verification report of the
accused. But the report did not have the correct name of the
accused mentioned on it.
This prompted the court to specifically ask the Keshav
Puram police station SHO to entrust the task to an official of
sub-inspector rank so that he could produce either the mother,
father, brother or wife of accused Shibu with all documents to
prove that he has died.
But as the SHO failed to get the order carried out
properly, by the next date of hearing on May 20, the court
imposed the fine upon him.
The court has now directed the Deputy Commissioner of
Police (north-west) to depute an inspector rank official to
place before it the death verification report of Shibu.
"DCP is directed to depute any official, not below the
rank of Inspector, who shall properly verify and give death
verification report of accused Shibu Kumar with all documents
and circumstances," the judge said.
PTI
