HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court resented the continued interference of police in civil disputes despite repeated warnings. On Monday, Justice T Vinod Kumar, while hearing a petition, questioned the role of police in pressuring litigants to withdraw pending civil cases from the courts.
Lambasting the police for overstepping their mandate, the court stated that they seem to believe they can take over the functions of the judiciary. “If that’s the case, amend the law accordingly and allow police stations to start issuing judgements, evicting people from houses and lands, and implementing Rent Control Acts,” the judge remarked in a sterner tone.
The bench questioned why the police were interfering when civil cases were already pending in courts. It also noted that such interference was forcing litigants to approach the judiciary for relief.
Referring to a land dispute in Hyderabad, the petitioner alleged that police were threatening him to withdraw his court petition.
The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that police had summoned his client to the station and pressured him to drop the civil suit. In defence, the Home department’s counsel said a case was registered based on a complaint of assault.