Supreme Court pulls up Gujarat cops who publicly flogged Muslims but extends stay on contempt order

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the stay on the contempt of court conviction and prison sentence imposed by the Gujarat High Court on four Gujarat Police officials who had publicly beaten five Muslim men after tying them to a pole [AV Parmar and ors vs State of Gujarat and ors]..A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, however, pulled up the cops in question for their conduct."What kind of atrocities are these. Tying the people to a pole, beating them in public view and taking videos," Justice Mehta remarked at the outset. "(Do) you have an authority under law to tie people up to a pole and beat them? ... Enjoy custody. You will be a guest of your own officers. They will get you special treatment," Justice Gavai added..After counsel for the policemen informed the bench that criminal prosecution and departmental proceedings against them are already underway, the bench proceeded to stay the contempt of court order against them until further orders..The matter concerns the public flogging of five Muslim men by policemen from the Matar Police Station in Kheda district in October 2022 for allegedly hurling stones at a crowd during a Navratri event in Undhela village. Videos of the flogging incident also surfaced on social media.The family members of the victims, through Senior Advocate IH Syed, petitioned the High Court seeking contempt of court action against the policemen for violating the Supreme Court's guidelines issued in the case of DK Basu v. State of West Bengal, which called for compliance with proper procedure before arresting any individual.In October last year, the Gujarat High Court found four policemen guilty of contempt of court. While fourteen policemen were said to have been involved, only four police officials could be identified from video footage of the incident.The Court sentenced these four officials to fourteen days of simple imprisonment and a fine of ₹2,000 each.The High Court added that the incident in question was an act against humanity. However, it stayed its order for a period of three months.The High Court also refused to accept the apology tendered by the policemen, stating that their acts had a debilitating effect on the rule of law even if their apology was bonafide.This led to the instant appeal before the apex court..The top court in today's hearing admitted the police officials' appeal and called for an expedited hearing in the matter..Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave briefed by Aura & Co. appeared for the police officials.Senior Advocate IH Syed appeared on caveat for the complainants/kin of the flogged men.