Lawlessness in India's Capital : Crime Stricken plead for Justice while Police Officer abets Crime
- Vineet Malik
- Dec 22, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: May 31, 2023
By Vineet Malik | December 21, 2021 | London, England
Twitter is brimming with complaints against the Station House Officer (SHO) for inaction, albeit Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) continue to give mechanical response and shield his subordinate for more to come
Inspector Sube Singh posted as the SHO at Sagarpur Police Station in South West Delhi has been mired in controversies.
Not even seven days have passed when a criminal court located in close proximity to the top Indian Court issued two bailable warrants against the SHO for not filing the Supplementary Charge Sheet despite lapse of two years and repeatedly failed to appear in-person to apprise the Court about inordinate delay in two criminal matters.
SHO with Free Rein to deny Procedures established by Law
Be it alleged inaction for registration of First Information Report (FIR), shielding builder mafia from the clutches of law or non-compliance of order passed by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), this police officer with decorated stars on his shoulders is law unto himself, insensitive to criticism and perfectly knows how to sit tight and dodge helpless victims.
The Constitutional Courts of India have time and again issued statutory directions to the state and the police to promptly register FIR on receiving complaints pertaining to cognizable offences. However, the state and the police are equally responsible for not complying with the landmark judgments ruled by such courts.
As per law, the state and the police should be held accountable for weak enforcement of the law and punished for committing contempt of the Constitutional Courts.
As the SHO enjoys impunity from the law, his superior - DCP South West Delhi Gaurav Sharma, Indian Police Service (IPS) can be seen sending repeated mechanical response from his official twitter account to irate complainants who are compelled to escalate the matter to the top police officer of South West Delhi.
“The refusal, failure and/or delay in registering FIR for complaints alleging cognizable offence is not only against the code of criminal procedure (Cr.PC), it also contributes towards crime that remains unaddressed in society. Typically, senior police officers stick to ordering the registration of FIR but fail to initiate action against the concerned officers. This gap has to be addressed. Such complaints needs to be taken seriously by the supervisory police officers and where negligence is found, action should be initiated against the errant officers. Police departments must ensure accountability” says, Devyani Srivastava, Head Police Reforms, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), New Delhi.
Compendium of Complaints posted against the SHO on Twitter
While the brazen SHO continue to spread lawlessness in society, the top brass of South West Delhi Police fail to give marching orders to his errant subordinate.
For how long can this continue ?
“The Senior Police Officer should initiate action against the errant SHO under Sections 166 and 217 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for knowingly disobeying the direction of law with intent to save person from punishment.” says, Kamlakar Shenoy, Alert Citizen and Social Activist, Mumbai.
The United Nation’s Interpretation on the Rule of Law
The rule of law is a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private including the state itself are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.
India is a state governed by rule of law. The government is bound to follow the guiding principles established by law. To break such rules is to break the law and commit a crime.
Justice delayed has a negative impact on the whole economy, not on just litigants. Delayed justice promotes corruption, crony capitalisation and lawlessness in society.
DCP South West Delhi was reached out twice by 'The Revelation' to seek explanation pertaining to conduct of the SHO and action initiated against him, however DCP chose not to respond till date.
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