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Madhya Pradesh High Court

Raju Meda vs State Of M.P. Through Home Department on 1 October, 2020

Author: Vivek Rusia

Bench: Vivek Rusia

           THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                        W.P. No. 9949/2020
  Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.
                              -: 1 :-

Indore, dated : 01.10.2020
            Petitioner by Shri Kuldeep Pathak, Advocate.
            Respondents/State by Shri Gaurav Singh Chouhan,
Panel Advocate.
            With the consent of parties, heard finally through video
conferencing.
                             ORDER

The petitioner has filed the present petition seeking the following relief/s :

"(a) To allow this petition by issuing appropriate writ, order or direction and to quash the impugned inquiry report dated 12.6.2020 (Annexure P/3) and the direct the respondent no.

1 to 3 to conduct fair and proper inquiry in to the matter of death of petitioner's father, under the supervision of higher police officer, not below the rank of Superintendent of Police or any under the supervision of any Judicial Officer; and

(b) to direct the respondent no.1 to 3 to take appropriate penal action against the respondent no. 4 to 6 after conclusion of such de-novo inquiry, as prayed for above; and

(c) Any other relief which this Hon'ble Court may deems fit, in favour of the petitioner, in the interest of justice."

Facts of the case, in short, are as under :

According to the petitioner on 4.4.2020, at around 7 am., the father of the petitioner - Late Shri Tibu Meda along with his son-in- law - Sanjay went to the local market of Village Gujri during the relaxation time of the lock-down period i.e. 7 to 9 am. Near about at 7.30 am., the police vehicles entered the local market of Village Gujri and started beating the peoples who were present in the market. In this incident, Late Tibu Meda and his son-in-law were also beaten by the police especially by respondents No. 5 & 6 using THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

'Lathi' due to which father Tibu Meda sustained injuries on his backside, shoulder, and both legs. The entire incident was witnessed local person. At the time of the incident, the father of the petitioner was aged about 65 years but he could not sustain such injuries caused by respondents No.5 and 6 and died on the spot. He was immediately taken to the Civil Hospital, Dhamnod, and post mortem was carried out at about 1.40 pm. Before the postmortem dead body was got inspected by the petitioner and other relatives in presence of government officials and Videography of the entire episode was done. As per the post mortem report, the cause of death is due to cardiac and respiratory failure. So far injuries are concerned, as per the post mortem report, the deceased sustained the following injuries :

"Dead Body of male aged about 60 years.

Average Built Rigor Mortis present all over the Body. No ligative mark around the neck.

External injury (1) Abrasion Rt. - Cheek - 1" x 1".

(2) Abrasion - Rt. Chin - 1" x 1/2"

(3) Old healed Scar in Rt. Leg below knee 1"x1/2"

After the post mortem, the dead body of the father of the petitioner was handed over to family members in the Civil Hospital, Dhamnod. Upon receiving the dead body, the petitioner and other family members again inspected the dead body and found clear marks of the injuries on the body. The Collector, Dhar vide order dated 5.4.2020 has ordered the Magisterial inquiry by appointing respondent No.4 as Inquiry Officer. Respondent No.4 conducted the inquiry by examining as many as 11witnesses and submitted its detailed report dated 12.6.2020. As per the report, the father of the THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

petitioner died due to cardiac and respiratory failure, not because of the injuries alleged to have been caused by respondents No.5 and 6. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid report, the petitioner has filed the present petition. Simultaneously, the petitioner has also submitted the representation to the Superintendent of Police, Governor, Chief Minister for registration of the FIR and impartial inquiry in the case of death of his father.

Vide order dated 29.7.2020, notices were issued to the respondents.

Respondents have filed the para-wise reply by denying the allegations made in the writ petition. It is submitted that the petitioner's father was found lying unconscious on the side lane of the market and no one could identify him therefore to help the said unconscious person, the police personal came forward and send to him to Community Health Centre in the police vehicle . This entire episode was recorded in CCTV installed in the house of one Manoj s/o Sitaram Singhal situated in the narrow lane which has been duly seized by the police authority. It is further submitted that if the said Sanjay s/o Salagram was present there, then the police authority was not required to take him in a police vehicle to the Community Health Centre as an unknown person. It is submitted that CCTV footage clearly reveals that when the police authority was proceeding on the main road towards Swastik Chowk in village Gujri at about 7.20 am on 04/04/2020 then certain people who were not following lock down-regulation started running towards the narrow lane to THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

hide themselves so that the police party who is going through the main road may not see them and identify them .The respondents have filed CD of CCTV footage along with the return and at around 0.46 second it is evident that the deceased Tibu Meda is coming inside the narrow lane, on his own and there is no presence of respondents no. 5 and 6 or any other police personnel. Then immediately after 1.45 minutes again the deceased Tibu Meda comes back towards the main road to collect his remaining articles which he had left there earlier. He immediately returned back as clearly seen in the recording at around 2.25 minutes with remaining articles and kept them inside the narrow lane. The CCTV footage of total 32 minutes and in those 32 minutes, the police party only entered when they came to know about the said incident while returning from Swastik Chowk when they were informed by Rajendra Baheti that one old man is lying on the ground unconsciously, then in order to provide medical help to him, the police party at around 23.50 minutes in the recording, taken him in their vehicle to Community Health Centre, Dhamnod, so that he can be properly treated as he was breathing at that point of time.

It is further submitted that the Magisterial inquiry was completed impartially. Respondent No.4 issued the notices by way of publication in the newspapers viz. Dainik Bhaskar; Dainik Chainya; and Agniban calling upon the public at large to come and give information if any about the allegations made by the petitioner. After the detailed inquiry, the learned Magistrate THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

found that there is no evidence of excessive beating and use of force upon the deceased by respondents No.5 and 6. There is no question of the death of the father of petitioner by the external injuries as per the post mortem report. The deceased sustained only two abrasions on his right cheek and right chin and one old healed Scar on his leg below the knee. These injuries were not sufficient to cause the death. The doctor who performed the autopsy has opined that the death occurred due to cardiac and respiratory failure. The amount of compensation of Rs.20,000/- was not paid by the Police Department, but the said amount was paid by Redcross Society as the deceased belonged to the Scheduled Tribe category. Therefore, the present petition is nothing but a misuse of the process of law, hence the same is liable to be dismissed.

I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties at length and perused the material available on record.

The petitioner is alleging that on 4.4.2020 at 7.20 am respondents No.5 and 6 started beating the people who were present in the local market especially in which the father of the petitioner the injuries and died on the spot. When the petitioner is making specific allegations against respondent No.5 and 6, then he ought to have impleaded them by name but not by post. Their names are available in the inquiry report, despite that, they have not been impleaded by name. Therefore, this petition suffers from misjoinder of parties.

THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

According to the petitioner, his father died because of excessive beating and the force used by respondents No.5 and 6 on 4.4.2020 at 7:20 am. After the post mortem, the dead body was handed over to the petitioner and he examined the injuries and found that his father sustained the injuries on the backside, shoulders and both legs. The petitioner has filed two photographs in order to show the injuries. The respondents have also filed the CD of the videography done in the Community Health Center . Two scars on the back of the deceased are seen in the video but not mention in the post mortem report. In the post mortem report, it is mention that the deceased had two injuries i.e. abrasion on the right cheek and abrasion on the right chin and one old healed scar on the leg below the knee. But in the video, two scars are seen on the back of the deceased. It appears that the Doctor who conducted the post mortem has failed to notice these two scars on the back of the body of the deceased and Respondent no 4 did not noticed in these injuries in the video recorded by police. The still photo taken from the video is displayed below:-

THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

Two scars by means of stick ( Lathi) are apparent above. As per the post mortem report, the father of the petitioner might have died due to cardiac and respiratory failure and not because of the injuries. The police used the force on the deceased is apparent. The finding recorded by the Sub Divisional Magistrate is reproduced below :

"tkWap ds fcUnq%& ¼1½ fdl ifjfLFkfr esa ewR;q gqbZ] blds fy, dkSu ftEesnkj gS& dksjksuk ok;jl dksfoM&19 ds O;kid ladze.k ls tqMh dkuwu O;oLFkk ij fu;a=.k ,oa fuxjkuh gsrq ykWdMkmu ds izHkkoh fdz;kUo;u ds nkSjku xzke xqtjh esa HkhM+HkkM+ ,oa dh lqpuk ij iqfyl cy ds igqWapus ls fnukad 04-04-2020 dks izkr% e`rd Vhcw firk cqfn;k iqfyl eksckbZy lk;ju ctus ds dkj.k vius&vki Mj ds lkeku ogha NksM+dj Hkkxus ,oa HkxnM+ ds dkj.k xyh esa pDdj [kkdj] csgks'k gksdj fxj x;kA iqfyl vf/kdkfj;ksa ,oa cy }kjk mls rRdky 'kkldh; fpfdRlky;] /kkeuksn mipkj gsrq yk;k x;kA tgkWa ij MkWDVjksa }kjk mls e`r ? kksf"kr fd;k x;kA izR;{knf'kZ;ksa ds dFku] lhlhVhoh ds ohfM;ksa] MkWDVj Vhe dh iksLV ekVZe dh fjiksVZ ,oa MkWDVjksa ds dFku ls fl) gksrk gS fd Vhcw firk cqfn;k dh e`R;q iqfyl }kjk ekjus ls ugha gqbZ gS] cfYd Vhcw dh e`R;q g~n;?kkr ls gqbZ gSA ¼2½ fdl dkj.k ls e`R;q gqbZ&tkWap ds nkSjku vkbZ ifjfLFkfr esa ;g mYys[kuh; gS fd dksjkuk ok;jl ¼dksfoM&19½ ds O;kid ladze.k ds cpko ds fy, iqfyl }kjk] 'kklu }kjk ?kksf"kr ykWdMkmu dk ikyu djok;k tk jgk FkkA izR;{knf'kZ;ksa ds dFku] lhlhVhoh ds ohfM;ksa] MkWDVjksa dh Vhe dh iksLV ekVZe dh fjiksVZ ,oa MkWDVjksa ds dFku ls fl) gksrk gS fd Vhcw dh e`R;q g~n;?kkr ds vfrfjDr vU; dksbZ dkj.k ls ugha gqbZ gSA ¼3½ mipkj ds nkSjku dksbZ vfu;fxrrk rks ugha ikbZ xbZ& tkWap ds nkSjku vkbZ ifjfLFkfr;ksa esa ;g mYys[kuh; gS fd izR;{kn'khZ jktsUnz ckgsrh ds dFku vuqlkj ckgsrh }kjk ,lMhkvksih dks crk;k fd ,d O;fDr xyh esa iMk gqvk gSA ,lMhvksih }kjk iqfyl LVWaQ dks cksydj ml O;fDr dks fn[kok;k x;k] i'pkr iqfyl xkMh vanj xbZ vkSj ml O;fDr dks iqfyl xkMh esa ysdj /kkeuksn 'kkldh; vLirky ys x,A iqfyl ds }kjk dksbZ ekjihV ugha dh xbZ ,oa u gh ml xyh esa iqfyl xbZA lwpuk nsus ds ckn gh iqfyl ml xyh esa xbZ vkSj mls mBkdj vLirky ys xbZA vr% iqfyl }kjk dksbZ ykijokgh dh tkuk ugha ik;k x;kA ¼4½ mDr ?kVuk esa iqfyl }kjk D;k dk;Zokgh dh xbZ&dksjkuk ok;jl ¼dksfoM&19½ ds O;kid ladze.k ds cpko ds fy, iqfyl] 'kklu }kjk ? kksf"kr ykWdMkVu dk ikyu ,oa vius dRrZO;ksa dk fuoZgu dj jgh FkhA mlh le; Vhcw ds csgks'k dh lwpuk feyus ds mijkar iqfyl }kjk Vhcw dks mipkj gsrq lkeqnkf;d LokLFk dsUnz] /kkeuksn yk;k x;kA ¼5½ mDr ?kVuk fdl dkj.k ls gqbZ&ykWdMkmu ds izHkkoh fdz;kUo;u ds nkSjku yksxksa esa HkxnM+ gksus ls mDr ?kVuk gqbZA ¼6½ mDr ?kVuk esa fdlh vf/kdkjh@'kkldh; deZpkjh ds } kjk dksbZ ykijokgh cjrh xbZ gS&tkWap ds nkSjku mDr ?kVuk esa fdlh vf/kdkjh@'kkldh; deZpkjh ds }kjk dksbZ ykijokgh cjrh tkuk ugha ik;k x;kA THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

¼7½ vU; fcUnq tks tkWap ds nkSjku lkeus vk,a&tkWap ds nkSjku Vhcw dh e`R;q dk dkj.k g~n;?kkr ds vfrfjDr dksbZ vU; dkj.k ugha ik;k x;k gS RkFkk tkWp ds nkSjku ;g Hkh Li"V gS fd iqfyl ds }kjk e`rd Vhcw dks LokLFk mipkj gsrq ys tkus esa dksbZ mis{kk ugha cjrh xbZ gSA ¼8½ bl izdkj dh ?kVuk dks jksdus gsrq lq>ko&bl izdkj tkWp ds nkSjku ;g rF; lkeus vk;k fd ykWdMkmu dk ikyu lqfuf'pr djkrs le; iqfyl dks Qysx ekpZ fudkydj ,oa lk;ju ctkdj yksxksa dks tkx:d fd;k tkuk pkfg,] rkfd bl izdkj dh ?kVuk ls cpk;k tk ldrk gSA vfHker%& bl izdkj eftfLVª;y tkWap ds nkSjku vfHkys[k ij nf'kZr gksus okyh leLr ifjfLFkfr;ksa bl vkSj bafxr djrh gS fd ?kVuk fnukad 04-04-2020 dks e`rd Vhcw firk cqfn;k] tkfr Hkhy] mez 65 o"kZ] fuoklh xzke xksBkfu;k] tks fd 'kklu }kjk ?kksf"kr ykWdMkmu dk iqfyl }kjk ikyu djk,a tkus ,oa iqfyl eksckbZy lk;ju ctus ds dkj.k vius&vki Mj ls Hkkxk ,oa ?kcjkgV ds dkj.k xyh esa pDdj [kkdj] csgks'k gksdj fxj x;k] ftlls mldh e`R;q gks xbZA Vhcw firk cqfn;k dh e`R;q g~n;?kkr ds vfrfjDr fdlh vU; dkj.k ls gksuk ugha ik;k x;kA vuq'kalk%& bl izdkj eftfLVª;y tkWp ds nkSjku] eSa ;g vuq'kalk Hkh djuk mfpr le>rh gwWa fd dksfoM&19 ds izHkko ls cpko gsrq lHkh yksxksa esa tkx:drk ykuh pkfg, rFkk le;≤ ij LokLF; ijh{k.k ij le>kbZ'k nh tkuk pkfg,A iqfyl dks turk ls vPNs lEca/k LFkkfir j[kus pkfg, rkfd fdlh izdkj dh nq? kZVuk ls O;fDr;ksa dks cpk;k tk ldrk gSA lkFk gh bl izdkj dh ?kVuk esa jktuhfrd O;fDr;ksa }kjk lk{;ksa ,oa izR;{knf'kZ;ksa dks /kedh ugha nh tkuh pkfg, ,oa U;kf;d izfdz;k esa gLr{ksi ugha fd;k tkuk pkfg,A izfrosnu Jheku~ dh vksj mfpr dk;Zokgh gsrq lknj izsf"kr gSA"

The Magistrate, after appreciating the evidence has rightly held that the father of the petitioner died due to the cardiac and respiratory failure which is based on post mortem report and also clear from the CCTV footage. But he did sustain the injuries by means of 'Lathi' used by the Police. The police found the deceased in an unconscious condition and immediately took him to the Civil Hospital. It also not in dispute on 4.4.2020 total lockdown Phase-1 was in force and no one was permitted to come outside without the permission of local administration and during this period. The police and entire local administration were jointly somehow trying to control the community spread of Corona (Covid-19) virus. That on 4.4.2020 the police came THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P. No. 9949/2020 Raju Meda S/o. Late Shri Tibu Meda. V/s. State of M.P. & others.

there in the local market of the village and peoples have started hiding themselves by running into the side lane. The father of the petitioner is also seen running in a side lane in the CCTV footage and that time he suffered a heart attack and became unconscious. However, the Magistrate has given some suggestions to the police to be followed during the lock-down period. This Court in a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot re-appreciate and re-assess the findings recorded by the Magistrate. Hence, I do not find any ground to interfere with the findings recorded by the respondent no.4.Since on 4.4.2020 the police used some force to control the spread of the virus and due to which the father of the petitioner suffered the injuries, hence compensation of Rs. 30,000=00( In words; Thirty Thousand only ) is hereby awarded to the family of the deceased in addition to the 20,000 already paid from the fund of Redcross society. The above compensation be paid by the respondents/ State of Madhya Pradesh within 45 days from today.

Accordingly, this petition is partly allowed.

( VIVEK RUSIA ) JUDGE Alok/-

Date: 2020.10.05 17:10:12 +05'30'