TOI: Activists throw rule-book at cops

Mumbai: A 75-year-old small scale industrialist and a 67-year-old veterinary doctor were among a motley group of ten that went to Marine Drive police station on Thursday evening to register an unusual complaint. They wanted to file an FIR against Sanjay Amrute, the senior inspector who arrested them on May 19 last year for disrupting the court of Suresh Joshi, state chief information commissioner . Their contention is that Amrute, now an assistant commissioner posted at the headquarters , falsely implicated and illegally arrested them.

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However, assistant commissioner Iqbal Shaikh and senior inspector Jhunjharrao Gharal refused to lodge an FIR against Amrute , saying they would only acknowledge their complaint.

All we did was to sing the national anthem in a meeting with Joshi, who had granted us a fiveminute audience, after his hearing was over, said Gaurang Vora, a pathologist and civic activist from Kings Circle. The group of ten had met Joshi to register their protest against his non-adherence to the Right to Information Act.

Joshi did not demand any justification from the public information officers (PIO) for delay or denial of information, he did not penalise any PIOs for it and neither did he mention the denial/delay in his order, said Vora.

The ten RTI activists were booked for trespassing, assault and rioting the same evening and sent to the lock-up at Azad Maidan police station from where they were dispatched to Arthur Road jail, where they spent a night before being granted bail. Our complaint against the cops is in keeping with Section 154(1) of CrPC, a landmark judgment of Bombay high court, recent pronouncements of Union home ministry and of Mumbai police commissioner D Sivanandhan , said Krishnaraj Rao, a 43-year-old publisher, who was one of the ten arrested.

The RTI activists initiative to file an FIR against the police is supported by Milind Kotak, founder of Forum for Effective Accountability & Transparency (FEAT), as part of the organisations campaign to hold public authorities accountable to the rule of law. He contended that Amrutes actions on May 19, 2009, were in breach of Supreme Court orders and police guidelines. The RTI activists hold that they were targeted at the instance of Joshi and substantiate it with the fact that although the police complaint made on his behalf did not speak of assault, rioting, trespass etc, the Marine Drive police station included such non-bailable offences in the FIR deliberately to justify arresting them under non-bailable sections.

By filing this FIR and carrying out these arrests, the policemen went far beyond the call of their duty, themselves committed many criminal offences under IPC sections 166, 167, 219, 220) and also contempt of the Supreme Court order in the case of Joginder Kumar Vs. State of UP. They also breached clear directions given by Maharashtras DGP in 1994, alleged Rao.
The others from the group of ten who assembled at Marine Drive police station on Thursday were veterinary surgeon Sriram Prabhu , businessman Sanjay Ghatalia, landlord Mohammed Afzal, teacher Ravi Kiran Haldipur, designer-printer and machinery manufacturer Sunil Ahya.

GUIDELINES ON ARREST

An arrest during the investigation of a cognisable case may be considered justified in one or other of the following circumstances :

· The case involves a grave offence like murder, dacoity, robbery, rape etc., and it is necessary to arrest the accused and bring his movements under restraint to infuse confidence among the terror stricken victims

· The accused is likely to abscond and evade the processes of law

· The accused is given to violent behaviour and is likely to commit further offences unless his movements are brought under restraint

· The accused is a habitual offender and unless kept in custody he is likely to commit similar offences again

Anil Singh I TNN

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Further details:

1) Citizens’ Police Complaint made on 4th Feb 2010: http://www.box.net/shared/mgfdyh9ftc

2) Background details, Police guidelines for arrests etc: http://www.box.net/shared/s44jjuytr6

3) Detailed account of how the ten Mumbai activists were arrested on 19th May, 2009: http://www.box.net/shared/2td1qqf7sx