BENGALURU: Expressing anguish over some police personnel striking work at Chikkamagaluru recently after six of their colleagues were suspended for allegedly assaulting an advocate, the High Court of Karnataka has said strict discipline should be the police force’s foremost requirement. Otherwise, it will be a case of fence eating the crop.
What those police personnel have done is unacceptable. As the Advocate General has assured that the matter is being looked into seriously by higher-ups in the department, the court will not deliberate more on it now, said a division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit.
Passing an order on a suo motu petition on the alleged assault on advocate Preetham by the policemen after an argument with him for riding a motorcycle without a helmet, the court constituted a high-level committee to create an atmosphere conducive to ensure a cordial relationship between the Bar, police and the district administration.
The committee should hold a meeting at the office of the Advocate General in Bengaluru on December 9, the court added. The committee will have Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty, Principal Secretary of the Home Department, DG and IGP or his nominee not below the rank of IGP, seven senior advocates, and the president of Chikkamagaluru Bar Association as its members.
The court said the committee should submit to it the recommendations to prevent disputes or differences between police personnel and advocates, in a sealed cover. On the Bar members’ demand that the policemen, who had allegedly assaulted the advocate, be arrested, the court said that it is left to the investigating agency. Therefore, restraint in this regard is warranted.