Allahabad High Court transfers investigation to CBI after finding that 35 police personnel were accused of lodging false cases

The Allahabad High Court recently transferred a police investigation against two persons to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in light of its finding that 35 police officers attached to the Highway Police Station in Mathura were accused of lodging false cases against the accused in the FIR. [Sumit Kumar and Anr. vs The State of UP and Ors.].A bench of Justices Suneet Kumar and Syed Waiz Mian stated that it was clear that Mathura District police officers were lodging false cases against the petitioner's family, which the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Scheduled Castes (SC) Commission were aware of."Having regard to the allegations made in the writ petition and the report of the Additional Superintendent of Police (Special Enquiry), Head Quarter Lucknow, it is evident that the police personnel of District Mathura, have been stage managing to lodge false cases against the family members of the petitioner of which notice has been taken by the National Human Rights Commission and SC Commission," it stated..The court was hearing a petition filed by two brothers seeking quashing of an FIR against unknown persons for the offence of kidnapping. They apprehended arrest and requested the court to transfer the investigation to the CBI.They told the court that Mathura District police officers lodged a number of false cases against them in order to pressurize them and filed the assailed FIR to ensure that the petitioners don't press an enquiry report wherein 35 officers were found to be prima facie guilty of lodging fake cases against the petitioners. As per the petition, two persons tried to kill the petitioners' brother, Puneet, post which their mother, Maya Devi, approached the police to file a complaint. Allegedly, instead of lodging an FIR against the two persons, the police boked Puneet under section 151, 107 and 116 The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).Maya Devi then filed an application under section 156(3) of CrPC pursuant to which a crime was finally registered.Allegedly aggrieved, the police officials in connivance with the accused persons lodged an FIR against the petitioners, Puneet and Maya Devi.Maya Devi, aggrieved by the officers' conduct, approached the NHRC which directed a case to be registered against two personnel of Highway Police Station, Mathura.A couple of years later, Puneet was arrested in two cases under Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code. The petitioners, belonging to a marginalized section of society, approached the SC Commission in Lucknow alleging that the cases were false. The commission directed a Special Enquiry Cell to conduct an enquiry with regard to the involvement of police personnel in illegally detaining the petitioners' brother and implicating him in false cases.Pursuant to the directions of the SC Commission, Additional Superintendent of Police (Special Enquiry), Head Quarter Lucknow submitted a report wherein, a few police personnel, prima facie, were found involved in detaining the petitioners' brother illegally and in lodging false cases against him in connivance with the Senior Supervisory Officer.Since no action was taken on the report, the petitioners approached the SC Commission once again after which the commission sought information from the Director General of Police, UP as to whether any action was taken on the report.The petitioners alleged that immediately thereafter, the assailed FIR was registered against them and stated that one of the police personnel involved in lodging the fake cases, Harvendra Mishra, set up the complainants to get the assailed FIR lodged after his efforts to settle the matter by pressurizing the petitioners failed..A petition was also filed by the complainants in the assailed FIR seeking fair investigation into the matter..The court noted that despite directions from the SC Commission, no action was taken against delinquent officials and that the state counsel was unable to state whether disciplinary actions were initiated against them."In the back drop of the aforenoted facts, the petitioners in both the writ petitions seek fair investigation; 35 police personnel have been held guilty of being involved for lodging false cases and procuring manufactured evidence against the petitioners and their family, however, till date no action has been taken against those officials despite specific direction from the SC Commission. The learned State Counsel is unable to state as to whether disciplinary proceedings has been initiated against the delinquent police personnel," it stated.It, therefore, directed the investigation in the assailed FIR to be transferred to CBI..[Read Order]