The Supreme Court docket expressed sturdy displeasure yesterday over the police remand of a Gujarat businessman, regardless of the court docket having granted him anticipatory bail. Angered by the Surat Police’s resolution to detain the businessman, the SC issued a contempt of court docket discover to the Further Chief Secretary (Dwelling) of the state, together with police officers and the Further Chief Justice of the Peace accountable for authorizing the remand. The apex court docket additionally requested whether or not the Gujarat follows a special regulation. The court docket requested the involved officers to look earlier than the court docket with ‘baggage and baggage’ on January 29.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was visibly angered throughout the listening to of a plea filed by Tusharbhai Rajnikantbhai Shah, a Surat resident accused in a dishonest case. The Supreme Court docket had beforehand granted him interim anticipatory bail on December 8, 2023. Justice Mehta questioned the blatant disregard for the court docket’s order, stating that the Surat police’s transfer to take the businessman into custody was a gross contempt of the Court docket’s order. The court docket additionally requested how may the Investigating Officer (IO) dare to hunt the remand regardless of anticipatory bail?
Reacting to the businessman spending 4 days in police custody, the apex court docket mentioned ‘let the Justice of the Peace and the IO be inside for 4 days’. Further Solicitor Common S V Raju, representing the state, tried to alleviate tensions by providing an apology. He acknowledged that the Investigating Officer (IO) had made a major error, and he sought to deal with the scenario by expressing remorse earlier than the court docket.
Requested in regards to the CCTV footage, Further Solicitor Common S V Raju mentioned that cameras weren’t working. To this, the court docket famous that this was anticipated. “It’s intentional. The cameras could not have been working for these 4 days. The police could not have marked his (Shah’s) presence within the police station diary. That is sheer abuse of energy,” mentioned the court docket.
The Supreme Court docket then requested the Further Solicitor Common to deliver everybody to the court docket on January 29 with all their ‘baggage and baggage’ saying that the court docket will resolve the matter on January 29 itself.