While the charge sheet presented in court and supplied to defense counsel accused Shawez of the crime, the charge sheet shown to the public prosecutor and the victim’s family exonerated Shawez.

By: Himkiran Kaur Sethi

A Delhi court summoned the DCP Southeast and directed the Commissioner of Police to take action against officers who submitted two separate charge sheets in a juvenile girl’s rape case.

While the charge sheet shown in court and supplied to defense counsel accused one Shawez of the crime, the one presented to the public prosecutor and the victim’s family cleared his name and blamed a person called Umer.

The act is a slap on the Delhi Police emblem of “Shanti, Seva, Nyay” since the term Nyay (Justice) has been twisted and contorted according to these officers’ whims and fancies, according to Additional Sessions Judge (POCSO) South East, Saket Courts, Gaurav Rao. 

“If this continues, and the officials are not dealt with sternly, the public shall lose their faith in the police system. They not only have mocked the court/judicial system but also abused their power qua the people they have pledged to serve and protect,” ASJ Rao wrote in his order.

Earlier this month, when hearing the same case, the court highlighted this and described the Police’s actions as “high-level treason,” ordering the DCP to respond.

The DCP informed the court that the second charge sheet was still being corrected and that it was also in the police file “which was unintentionally supplied to the complainant,” adding that the deed was done without malice.

The judge, on the other hand, has stated that the officials’ malfeasance is quite big in this instance since the court has been misled, which is purposeful and intentional. 

“There cannot be any question of the draft charge sheet or the charge sheet which was yet to be corrected as both the sets of charge sheets bear the signature of the concerned officials of the same day/date. I am not inclined to believe that on the same day the charge sheet was corrected/amended and signed and both sets of the charge sheets were filed in the court. Moreover, the soft copy/CD/e-challan is different from the charge sheet/hard copy filed in the court,” the court said.

The court remarked that the DCP failed to justify the removal of two whole paragraphs from the charge sheet, which spanned 20-25 lines. These paragraphs provided the accused with a clean bill of health and placed blame on someone else, whose name was removed from the charge sheet produced in court. 

“How can the said action be justified and what more is required to hold that it was deliberate, motivated, and malafide,” the Judge asked.

Shawez was arrested on March 25 under IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 366 (abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage), Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimation), as well as provisions of the POCSO Act, for allegedly holding a minor captive for six days and raping her.

The Court, on the other hand, dubbed the entire inquiry a farce since private remarks recorded by the prosecution and utilized as witnesses cleared the defendants. 

“Undoubtedly investigation is the sole prerogative of the police officials but it is expected that the investigation shall be concluded by them in a fair, honest, and transparent manner and the same should not be motivated or malafide,” the Court noted.

The court has requested that its order be presented to the Commissioner of Police and that the court expects the DCP to conduct an honest inquiry and produce a report with the court as soon as possible. The case has been rescheduled until Wednesday.