"Treating even dogs like this is illegal:" Kerala High Court lashes out at Police for 'inhuman' treatment of citizen

The Kerala High Court on Monday took strong exception to the "horrendously shocking" acts on the part of two Kerala police officials who had subjected an ordinary citizen to "unimaginable barbarity". .Single judge Justice Devan Ramachandran expressed his shock and disgust at the actions of at least two police officers who had allegedly handcuffed, chained and registered several cases against a man who had come to the police station to ask for the receipt for a complaint he had filed earlier."The contents of report settled by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) for want of better words, is horrendously shocking. This report is dated May 25, 2021 and it finds that at least two police officers have treated the petitioner with unimaginable barbarity- handcuffing him to a handrail of the police station and registering multiple cases against him, all because he dared to ask receipt for a complaint he had preferred to the said authorities," the Court noted in its order..The judge, while reading out a portion of the report on the incident, commented, "Earlier you would say this is treating a person like a dog but now, treating dogs like this also illegal." .Before it concluded the order, the Court, in plain terms, warned the police, by noting that the petitioner seems to have suffered at their hands because he is from a vulnerable section of society and that such persons deserve strong support from the legal system."The petitioner has been subject to inhuman torture all because he because he belongs to a rather vulnerable strata of society. I have no doubt that going by the Constitutional apparatus of this great nation such people require the unreserved support of the legal system. The State Police Chief will keep this in mind.".Justice Ramachandran read parts of the report filed by a DySP and noted that the report itself says the officers' actions are 'unlawful and inhuman' and that a very junior Sub-Inspector was also present. .Justice Ramachandran orally observed that due to the volume of police harassment cases that come up due to misuse of Section 117 of the Kerala Police Act, which deals with the penalties for interfering in the functioning of the Police, the Court might even consider taking up the matter suo motu."Section 117 is the most misused provision, It should be taken away in my opinion. We cannot to give our police officers this kind of power anymore," the judge opined..The judge also noted that there is no evidence that the man disrespected the officers or took videos of them, and even if he had, it would not warrant this kind of response. "First of all, there is no need to even call police officers Sir. They are public servants. There is no evidence that this person spoke to the policemen disrespectfully or took any videos of them. Even if he recorded a video, if one takes a video of a police officer, will the sky fall down?".Before dictating the order, the Court highlighted its repeated attempts at reforming police behaviour, all in vain. "This wasn't done even in British times to Indians. How can an Indian person do this to another Indian? It pains me. We are taking a lot of efforts to make these people understand what civilisation is, what civilised behaviour is.".While the Court appreciated the efforts and thoroughness of the DySP who submitted the report with regard to the incident, it noted with displeasure that the police officers who were involved in the incident still seemed to be in service, which it opined exacerbates the heinousness of the incident. Therefore, it directed the State Police Chief to file an action taken report and elaborate on the reasons why the officers were continuing to be in service..The matter will be taken up next on October 22, 2021.