New Delhi: The Supreme Court minced no words Wednesday while criticising the police remand of a Gujarat businessman after it had granted him anticipatory bail, terming it "grossest of contempt" and "sheer abuse of power".
A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to police officials and a Judicial Magistrate of Surat and ordered them to be present before it on January 29. The apex court had granted anticipatory bail to Surat resident Tusharbhai Rajnikantbhai Shah in a cheating case. The court was informed that the businessman was remanded in police custody, and allegedly threatened to extort Rs 1.65 crore from him in the presence of the complainant.
The bench, which seemed to be upset with non-compliance of its order, said it seems Gujarat follows different laws, this is pure violation of its orders, and stressed that it "is the grossest of contempt".
Senior advocate Iqbal H Syed and advocate Mohammad Aslam, representing Shah, said they have filed an application with the Commissioner of Police to preserve the CCTV footage of Surat's Vesu police station from December 13, till December 16, 2023, the period when their client was in custody.
"Let the magistrate and the investigating officer come and explain how the remand orders were passed", said the bench, adding that it would direct the Director General of Police to send the contemnors to Sabarmati jail or somewhere else.
The bench queried when the court had on December 8, 2023 granted anticipatory bail to the petitioner, how was the remand order passed and Shah taken into custody.
The apex court queried Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the Gujarat government, regarding CCTV footage. The apex court was informed that the cameras were not working.
Justice Mehta said, "This was expected. It's intentional. The cameras may not have been working for those four days. The police may not have marked his (Shah) presence in the police station diary. This is sheer abuse of power…..".
The bench said it will issue contempt notice to the Magistrate also and told Raju, ask everyone to come on January 29 with all their bags and baggage and the court will decide the matter on January 29. Raju apologised to the bench, acknowledging that the investigating officer had committed a blunder.
Emphasising on four days illegal custody, the bench said let the Magistrate and the investigation officer be inside for four days. After hearing submissions, the bench issued notices to the Additional Chief Secretary of the state’s home department, Surat police commissioner, deputy commissioner of police, inspector of Vesu police station, and the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate concerned.
Shah said the top court in December ordered that in the event of his arrest, he be released on bail in connection with the FIR dated July 21, 2023 subject to him executing a personal bond of Rs 25,000. However, the police arrested him when he went to the police station on December 11 to join the investigation. He was released on bail after he executed a bond as directed by the top court.
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