New Delhi:A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced CBI joint director Ramneesh and retired police officer V.K. Pandey 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.
Ramneesh was a superintendent of police when the raid was conducted in 2000. The court said the officers acted in “sheer violation of their legal powers as public servants”.
Judicial Magistrate Shashank Nandan Bhatt was hearing the arguments on the sentence against Pandey and Ramneesh. Following the sentencing order, the convicts moved an application under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) seeking suspension of the sentence which was granted with conditions.
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 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.
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.
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