Delhi riots case: Delhi Police moves HC against order imposing Rs 25,000 fine

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has moved the Delhi High Court against a trial court order which called its investigation into a Delhi riots case "callous and farcical" and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000.

The appeal said that the imposition of fine, which was to be recovered from the station house officer (SHO) of Bhajanpura police station and his supervising officers, was unwarranted and uncalled for.

In its plea filed through advocates Amit Mahajan and Rajat Nair, Delhi Police has said that the July 13 order was in violation of principles of natural justice as it was passed without giving any opportunity to the DCP to make his submissions, and that "very serious remarks were made against the investigation even prior to the commencement of trial".

In its order, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav had pulled up the police for lack of efficacy and fairness in the investigation in the case and said that it had been done in a most casual, callous, and farcical manner.

The police had challenged a magisterial court order that had directed it to register an FIR on the complaint of one Mohammad Nasir, who lost his left eye after suffering a gunshot injury during the riots.

It was the agency's stand that there was no need to register a separate FIR as it had already registered one earlier and there was no evidence against the persons who allegedly shot him as they were not present in Delhi at the time of the incident.

The judge said that Mohammad Nasir was free to exhaust his remedies available to him in accordance with the law to get a separate FIR registered in respect of his complaint.

The matter is likely to come up for hearing this week.