Contempt of court: Additional Commissioner among four TS cops sentenced to four weeks in jail
Telangana High Court on Monday sentenced Additional Commissioner (Crime) A.R. Srinivas, Banjara Hills Assistant Police Commissioner M Sudarshan, Jubilee Hills Station House Officer S Rajasekhar Reddy, and SI Ch Naresh to four weeks in jail for contempt of court.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 7 Jun 2022 2:18 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Telangana High Court on Monday sentenced Additional Commissioner (Crime) A.R. Srinivas, Banjara Hills Assistant Police Commissioner M Sudarshan, Jubilee Hills Station House Officer S Rajasekhar Reddy, and SI Ch Naresh to four weeks in jail for contempt of court.
Justice Radha Rani also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 each on the officials.
The court was hearing a petition relating to a violation of Supreme Court guidelines while probing a dowry harassment case. It also directed the Hyderabad Police Commissioner to take disciplinary action against them.
Later, Justice G. Radha Rani suspended the sentence for six weeks and gave time for the contemnors to appeal. The contempt of court petition was filed by two NRIs Jakka Sowjanya Reddy, and her son Jakka Vinod Kumar Reddy. Residing in Bangkok, they alleged that the police filed a chargeĀsheet in dowry harassment and domestic violence case without issuing them the mandatory notice under Section 41ĀA of Cr PC.
Reddy's wife Sumana Paruchuri complained to Jubilee Hills police on November 14, 2019, leading to the case against him and his mother. Initially, sections 420 (cheating) and 120ĀB (criminal conspiracy) were invoked against them, but eventually, sections 498A and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Domestic Violence Act were added to FIR.
The petitioner submitted that the approach of the contemnors was malicious, malafide, and cruel and created grave suspicion of their conduct. It shows the gross misuse of power and the heights of desperation. The petitioners filed a criminal petition in the HC and later moved to the Supreme Court which passed an order staying all further proceedings in the case, said the petitioner's counsel.
The counsel contended that police issued a second FIR with near similar content in 2020 and filed a chargeĀsheet. They also said that police did not comply with the mandatory procedure of issuing notice to the accused (petitioners here) and filed the chargeĀsheet. The judge held four officers guilty of a violation of Supreme Court guidelines and awarded punishment.
