Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today found four Gujarat Police officers guilty of contempt of court for violating the DK Basu Guidelines set by the Apex Court. They have been sentenced to 14 days of simple imprisonment for their involvement in publicly flogging Muslim men in the Kheda district in October last year.

However, the execution of the sentence has been temporarily halted for three months upon the request of the accused’s counsel, who intends to file an appeal against the verdict.

A bench comprising Justice AS Supehia and Justice Gita Gopi expressed their dissatisfaction with the need to issue such orders, mandating simple imprisonment for the officers. Additionally, a fine of Rs. 2,000 has been imposed on each of the police officers. Failure to pay the fine will result in an additional 3-day imprisonment.

The orders comes in a contempt plea that was filed by five family members, alleging that the five victims were subjected to public beatings by the policemen from the Matar Police Station in the Kheda district, thus violating the Apex Court’s guidelines against custodial torture, as outlined in the case of DK Basu vs. State of West Bengal.

The police action was in response to a communal clash in Undhela village, located in Matar Taluka of the Kheda district. It was alleged that some intruders had thrown stones at the crowd during Navratri celebrations, resulting in the arrest of at least 40 individuals in the incident.

Earlier, on October 4, the High Court had issued an order to frame contempt charges against a Local Crime Branch Inspector (AV. Parmar), Sub-Inspector (D.B. Kumavat), Head Constable (Kanaksingh Laxman Singh), and a Constable (Raju Rameshbhai Dabhi). Subsequently, on October 16, the victims declined monetary compensation offered by the four policemen.

During a previous hearing, the High Court had questioned the state government regarding the legality of ‘tying up an accused and publicly beating them in full view of the public.’

Senior Advocate IH Syed represented the petitioners, while Senior Advocate Prakash Jani appeared for the police officers. DeshGujarat