Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu): Responding to why the assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Balveer Singh's suspension order was revoked, Supreme Court advocate Madhu Prakash said that high-ranking police officers when they commit an error are dealt with under Sections 17A ( a mandatory requirement for a police officer to seek prior approval from the competent authority for conducting any enquiry ) and 17B of the Indian Penal Code.
He said that the Section also provides for revocation of suspension order against the flawed officials and based on that, Singh's suspension order has been cancelled. It was alleged that the officer had tortured inmates, particularly young people from underprivileged backgrounds. When the horrific torture of the victims was made public in 2023, it was said that Singh had taken each of them into a room and used cutting pliers to extract their teeth while other police officers were holding their arms and legs. Additionally, he was accused of crushing the testicles of two detained individuals.
He and 14 other police officers, who had been charged in the four incidents, were granted bail by a Tirunelveli Court on December 15. The court granted the 15's undertaking under Section 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which grants the authority to take bond for appearance, and freed them on bond, rejecting the demand that they be arrested. Four separate charges of torture in detention have been filed against the 15 suspended police officers.
In April 2023, a formal complaint was lodged against Singh under the IPC Sections 324 (causing hurt by weapons), 326 (grievous hurt by hazardous weapons), and 506/1 (punishment for criminal intimidation). The IPS officer was booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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