Allahabad High Court holds special Sunday hearing at Chief Justice residence to take suo motu note of attack on woman cop

The Allahabad High Court held a special hearing on Sunday evening to initiate a suo motu case on the recent attack on a Uttar Pradesh Police woman officer, who was found injured on a train. [Ram Kaushik v. Union Of India And 4 Others].A Bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava took suo motu note of the incident on the basis of a WhatsApp message received by the Chief Justice. The matter was heard at Chief Justice Diwaker’s residence at 8:00 PM on Sunday.Given the seriousness of the matter, the Court directed that the letter be registered as a public interest litigation (criminal).It issued notice to the Union Ministry of Railways, the Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), the State of Uttar Pradesh and the State Commission for Women, Uttar Pradesh.“At the time of hearing, learned State counsel shall also place the case diary before the Court. The Investigating Officer is also required to remain present before the Court,” the order said..According to a Times of India report, a passenger who boarded the Saryu Express train from Ayodhya junction alerted the railway police about the injured woman cop, who was found lying beneath the lower berth in the general coach. She is said to be stable now.Advocate Ram Kaushik, espousing the cause of the victim, presented a letter petition before the Court and submitted that the incident took place on intervening night of August 30 and August 31.Citing media reports, Kaushik said that the officer was found in a pool of blood, unable to move by herself, with a deep cut on her face and other injuries..It was also submitted that on a written complaint of the victim’s brother, a first information report (FIR) under Sections 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (Assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) and 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered. Kaushik added that looking to the serious as well as physical condition of the officer, Sections 376/376D (rape) of the IPC should have also been added in the FIR.It was argued that the railway authorities have completely failed to implement measures to ensure safety of women. The Court will hear the matter at 12:00 noon on Monday..Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal with Advocates AK Sand, JK Upadhyay and Amit Sinha represented the State..[Read Order]