People suffering due to police incompetence: Madhya Pradesh HC after DNA test clears another man in rape case

In a strongly-worded message to the Director General of Police (DGP), the Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked him to consider whether his police officers need further training or the general public "should go on suffering" on account of their lack of legal knowledge [Jitendra v The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others]..Justice GS Ahluwalia posed the question while dealing with a rape case in which the accused, after the filing of a chargesheet against him, was cleared of the rape allegations by a DNA test report in December 2025.Despite the DNA report, the police failed to initiate steps to find out the real culprit. The Court observed that similar inaction occurred in two other rape cases in which the real perpetrators were later found to be different from the men initially arrested by the police.It is clear that the police are not interested in improving their working and are rather happy with their little effort to protect the life and liberty of the general public with their poor knowledge of the law, the Court remarked.“It appears that the Police Department has not taken any lesson from the lapses left by the Superintendent of Police of different districts and no guidelines have been issued by the Police Headquarter requiring their Superintendent of Police to monitor the cases of minor prosecutrix with all sincerity and to take further steps after finding that the accused, who is facing trial, is not the biological father of the fetus,” the Bench further said..The Court was hearing a bail plea filed by the accused, who was arrested on October 10, 2025, by the Betul police. The police informed the Court that the DNA test report had revealed that the accused was not the biological father of the child born to the minor rape victim.During the hearing of the bail plea on February 10, the Court questioned Superintendent of Police Virendra Jain about the lack of corrective action, despite the DNA report clearing the man arrested by the police. The Court expressed shock at Jain's response, adding that it spoke volumes about the training of senior police officers in the State. "Surprisingly and shockingly, Mr. Virendra Jain, Superintendent of Police, Betul did not answer that since the applicant, who is facing trial, is not the biological father of the baby child, therefore, it is clear that the minor prosecutrix was sexually exploited by some other person also. Thus, lack of knowledge on the part of Mr. Virendra Jain, Superintendent of Police, Betul speaks in volume about the training of the senior Police Officers in the State of Madhya Pradesh," the February 10 ruling said. .The order further records that Jain told the Court that the police have now started further investigation in the matter and recorded supplementary statements of the victim and her father on February 9. However, the Court pointed out this step was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court, which requires the police to take permission of the trial court for further investigation in cases where the final report has already been filed.Drawing the attention of the State DGP to the matter, the Court said,“It is for the Director General of Police, State of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal to consider as to whether his subordinates police officers including the Superintendent of Police are liable to be trained or the general public of the State of M.P. should go on suffering on account of the lack of knowledge of law on the part of the police officers.”Though the Court recorded that Jain’s legal knowledge was not up to the mark, it did not order any action against him. Instead, the Court asked the DGP to consider “whether he wants competent police officers or not.”.Addressing the bail plea, the Court directed the police to further investigate the matter from all angles after taking permission from the trial court.“Since the baby child is available and alive, therefore, the blood samples of all the suspects should be collected, so that the biological father of the baby child can be traced out,” it said.Interestingly, the Court rejected the bail plea of the accused on the ground that the DNA report in itself was not sufficient to discard the victim’s statement.“So far as present applicant is concerned, one thing is clear that even if the medical report does not support the prosecution case, that by itself would not be sufficient to discard the statement of the prosecutrix. Since the evidence of the prosecutrix has not been recorded so far, therefore, for the time being, the applicant cannot be granted bail merely because the DNA profile of the baby child does not match with the applicant,” the Bench said..Advocate Pradeep Singh Chouhan represented the accused.Government Advocate Swati George represented the State..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.