Gauhati High Court has “expressed” its displeasure over the bulldozing of houses “in the guise of investigation” following the mob attack on the Batadraba police station in Assam and asked who gave the Nagaon superintendent of police (SP) the “power to bulldoze the house”.
Chief justice of Gauhati High Court, R.M. Chhaya, made the observation on Thursday when a division bench comprising him and Justice Soumitra Saikia was hearing a suo motu case based on a PIL seeking an impartial investigation into the alleged custodial death of fish trader Safiqul Islam, 39, in Batadraba police station under Nagaon district in upper Assam.
The PIL was filed by high court advocates A.H. Lashkar and Zunaid Khalid on May 23 and it was registered as a suo motu case in July.
“Though the observations are not part of the order issued on Thursday, the chief justice has expressed his displeasure over the contention of the state government in its affidavit filed on Thursday on the custody death and demolition. The question before the court was under which legal provision the bulldozing was carried out,” Zunaid, one of the petitioners, told The Telegraph.
He added: “The court was not satisfied by the contention of the government in its affidavit. The senior government advocate, D. Nath, sought an adjournment, which was allowed by the court. The matter will now be heard on December 13.”
The one-line court order was uploaded on Friday evening. During the proceedings streamed live on Thursday, chief justice Chhaya asked the government counsel to show him from any criminal jurisprudence “that for investigating a case, the police, without any order, can uproot a person, apply a bulldozer? ... You may be SP of any district but you require permission.
Even your IG or DIG or whoever may be your highest authority, DGP, has to pass through a gamut of laws. Only because you head the police department they cannot break anybody’s house... Nobody is safe in this country if that is permitted...The procedure has to be followed.”
The custody death had resulted in a mob setting the police station on fire. The police and civil administration responded by bulldozing the houses of five accused from Chalnabori, who were allegedly part of the mob. Islam’s house was also demolished.
Chief justice Chhaya further observed: “Which law permits you to do this without permission of the court?... I have not come across any police officer using bulldozers by way of search warrant... In a lighter vein, I have not even seen a Hindi movie of that category... You can send this story... Rohit Shetty (film-maker) can make a film on this.”
The police had not linked the demolition drive to the attack on the police station.
A senior police officer had then said the demolition was carried out against encroachers living on government land and that most of those who had burnt down the police station were encroachers.
Those arrested were booked under penal sections dealing with criminal conspiracy, rioting, attempt to murder, armed with deadly weapon, assaulting public servant, criminal trespass and damage to public property, among others.
Stressing the need to follow procedure, chief justice Chhaya also pointed out that law and order words were “used together with a purpose”.
He asked the government counsel if somebody forcefully entered the courtroom and spits, “will your police authorities remove these chairs under the guise of investigation”.
“We are in a democratic set-up... Put this to your higher-up. Your DGP may not be knowing about this incident... You bulldoze somebody’s house... This is not the manner in which you control law and order. You can prosecute him for whatever offences he has committed but who gave power to your SP to bulldoze the house?”
