Delhi court sentences CBI joint director to 3 months' imprisonment in IRS officer assault case

A Delhi court has sentenced two CBI officers to three months simple imprisonment for assaulting and trespassing into the residence of an Indian Revenue Service IRS officer during a raid over two decades ago, saying that they acted in sheer violation of their legal powers as public servants.

A Delhi court has sentenced two CBI officers to three months' simple imprisonment for assaulting and trespassing into the residence of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer during a raid over two decades ago, saying that they acted in ''sheer violation of their legal powers as public servants''. Judicial Magistrate Shashank Nandan Bhatt was hearing the arguments on the sentence against the convicted retired police officer V K Pandey and Ramneesh, who was serving as a superintendent of police when the raid was conducted in 2000. Ramneesh is at present a joint director at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In an order, the court said, ''In light of the above discussion, this court is of the opinion that the offences committed by the convicts, who acted in sheer violation of their legal powers as public servants, are serious in nature and cannot be viewed leniently.'' However, following the sentencing order, the convicts moved an application under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking suspension of the sentence. Considering that the offences involved were bailable in nature, the court allowed the plea and suspended the sentence for a period of one month, subject to furnishing bail bonds of Rs 25,000 each with one surety of the like amount. The court then accepted the bonds furnished by the convicts. The case pertained to an incident on October 19, 2000, when a CBI team carried out a search and arrest operation at Ashok Kumar Aggarwal's residence in Paschim Vihar. Aggarwal alleged that the officials forcibly entered his house in the early hours, assaulted him and violated legal procedures during the arrest. The court noted that the complainant in the case had to suffer illegal arrest due to the actions of convicts and their actions shook the faith of the general public in the law of the land. Regarding the contention made before the court that the officers were following the orders of seniors, the court said they were duty-bound to exercise independent judgment. ''By virtue of the public offices held by the convicts, they were duty-bound to exercise independent judgment and they cannot be permitted to abdicate their moral and professional duties by taking the plea of acting under the directions of seniors,'' the judge said. Counsel for the complainant, Shubham Asri, seeking maximum punishment for both the convicts contended before the court that his client had been in jail for 38 days and suffered a lot in the past 26 years due to this case. ''The sentencing must send a strong message to the society that public servants cannot abuse their official position to settle personal scores. The convicts were senior CBI officers at the relevant time and a higher standard of accountability was expected from them,'' he said. Opposing the maximum punishment, the counsels of both the accused, M M Khan and Nawab Singh Jaglan, contended that the court should consider the gravity of the offence rather than looking at the principles of law. ''Being public officers at the relevant time, they were acting merely under the directions of their seniors and had no personal animosity or grudges with the complainant. Both the convicts have had distinguished careers as public servants and have no past criminal Antecedents,'' they said. The court held that the convicts owed a greater degree of accountability as compared to any other ordinary person and the mala fide actions of the convicts have grave societal consequences. The court then sentenced both the accused to undergo simple imprisonment for three months for offences punishable under IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 448 (house trespass). The court also directed both convicts to pay compensation of Rs 50,000 each to the complainant within 30 days.