KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday appointed amici curiae to assist the court in ascertaining whether prosecution proceedings can be initiated against police officers who allegedly demanded a bribe from a Delhi family residing in Kochi to travel to Delhi to trace their two missing daughters.
Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the order after examining a report filed by the Kochi City Police Commissioner in that regard. The report stated that the police officers involved had not availed the railway warrant or the travel allowance they were entitled to. On the contrary, they travelled at the expense of the girls’ family. The Assistant Sub-Inspector had accepted around Rs 17,000 and used the amount for board and lodging for himself and the other officers, the report said. The commissioner stated that the money received from the family would be returned or reimbursed.
The court observed, “We are all expected to act as per the law. How can we condone such actions of police officers? They should have never taken the money from the parents of the victims, not even as an advance, for travel and lodging expenses. The question which arises now is whether the action of the officers requires lodging of an FIR.” Hence, the court has appointed advocates S Rajeev and A V Jojo as amici curiae to explore the ambit of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in this matter.The state government submitted that an FIR cannot be registered without any complaint from the aggrieved parties.