New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Policemen are expected tomaintain law and order and not take it in their hands, theDelhi High Court said today while handing down eight-year jailterm to six Delhi Police officials in a custodial death case.
A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta modifiedthe conviction of the six policemen for the offence of murderto unintentional killing and reduced their jail term from lifeimprisonment to eight years.
"The court is satisfied that although the culpability ofthe accused for the homicidal death of the deceased has beenproved beyond reasonable doubt, the evidence of theprosecution does not precisely point out which of the accusedcaused the fatal injuries," the bench said.
The court said the policemen were expected to actresponsibly with a view to protect the life and liberty of thecitizens.
It noted that some of the convicts have served nearly sixyears in jail and were released on bail.
"These are all uniformed policemen who are expected tomaintain the law and order and are not to take law and orderin their own hands. They are expected to act responsibly witha view to protecting the life and liberty of the citizens," itsaid while disposing off the appeals of the policemen.
Those held guilty were Avinash Kumar, Kuldeep Singh,Sahensher Pal, Sushil Kumar, Ramesh Chand and Chottey Lal.
The six policemen, belonging to the Special Staff (North-east) of the Delhi Police, had appealed against theirconviction by the trial court in 2000 for the murder of oneDalip Chakraborty in 1995.
He had died on August 8, 1995 due to the injuries causedby them while he was in their custody on July 30 and 31, 1995.
The court said the accused had assembled for the raid onthe house of the deceased past midnight. They were proceedingon the basis of some secret information that Chakraborty waspossessing illegal arms which otherwise could not be expectedto be found out except by conducting the raid.
"It appears that the above mission somewhere wentterribly wrong," it said.
The high court also upheld their conviction for theoffences of trespass and abduction. PTI SKV PPS HMPARC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
