A Delhi Court on Wednesday dismissed Jamia Millia Islamia University’s plea seeking registration of an FIR against Delhi Police as it “entered the campus without permission and subjected the students to brutality” in 2019.
The court noted that acts allegedly perpetrated by the respondent Delhi Police fall within the purview of section 197 CrPC (prior sanction from a competent officer is needed to prosecute a government servant for alleged criminal act done in discharge of his official duty) and the acts were committed in the discharge of official duties.
It has been argued by Counsel for applicants that the violence was due to some anti-social components and that the protests being held by students of JMI University were largely peaceful, the Court noted.
The court said that the argument is not pertinent here as it is not for this court to determine this issue in the present proceedings. The court said that one aspect is clear from the background is that some of the protests had become violent and that police, including the respondents, were acting to control the protests at the relevant point of time, to prevent violence and prevent law and order situation from further deteriorating.
The Court also noted in the present application itself that respondents had broken into the University Campus for clearing the crowd which had gathered there to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
Thus, actions of respondents Delhi Police –in doing so are connected to their official duties, though some of them said actions might be questionable,” the court said.
This court has no hesitation in holding that acts allegedly committed by the respondents Delhi Police fall within the purview of section 197 Cr.P.C., being acts committed in the discharge of official duties. Thus, as per the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Anil Kumar v M K Aiyappa (Supra), the existence of requisite sanction is a must even before jurisdiction under section 156(3) Cr.P.C. could be exercised. That being so, the present application cannot be allowed for want of sanction under section 197 Cr. P.C, it said.
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JNU REOPENING: MPHIL, MTECH, MBA STUDENTS ALLOWED TO RETURN TO CAMPUS
Police in its Action Taken Report has requested to reject the JMI University plea and said that to contain the violence and maintain law and order, the police were constrained to enter the JMI university campus.
DELHI UNIVERSITY TEACHERS TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF ADMINISTRATION MISTAKE
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