The Chandigarh District Court has acquitted a Mohali resident, Jasdeep Singh Bains, of assault on police officials during a drunken driving naka, observing that crucial evidence, including the allegedly torn police jackets and the broken body camera, was never produced before it.
Jasdeep Singh, a resident of Mohali, had been booked under sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant while on duty), 353 (assault to deter a public servant from performing duty), and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was registered on the statement of Head Constable (HC) Satpal.
According to the complaint, on September 30, 2018, Head Constable Satpal was on duty at a drunken driving naka near Government School, Sector 7, Chandigarh, between 11 pm and 1.30 am. Around 1.20 am, an Innova vehicle approached from the direction of the Social Club. When Constable Manoj signalled the driver for an alcohol check, a person seated in the back seat — allegedly intoxicated — stepped out of the vehicle and refused testing, declaring that he and his companions had consumed liquor.
The man, later identified as Jasdeep Singh Bains, allegedly began manhandling the police personnel, tearing Satpal’s reflector jacket, breaking the body camera attached to it, and also tearing the jacket of Constable Ajit, who was standing nearby. Constable Ajit reportedly suffered an injury to his right knee during the scuffle. The incident was said to have occurred in the presence of Traffic Marshal Rakesh Kumar Sharma.
Following the incident, the police alleged that the accused had obstructed the officials from performing their duty, caused damage to government property, and assaulted them. The two reflector jackets, the damaged camera, and the Innova vehicle were allegedly seized by the police as case property.
However, during the trial, the defence, represented by Advocate Rajesh Sharma, denied all allegations, arguing that the accused had been falsely implicated.
While hearing the matter, Rahul Garg, ACJM (Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate), observed serious lapses in the prosecution’s case. The court noted that although the prosecution claimed that the torn reflector jackets and the broken camera had been seized, no such property was ever deposited in the malkhana (court property room) except for the car.
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“Even perusal of the case file shows that the said case property which is broken camera and the torn jackets have not been produced in the court during the entire prosecution evidence for the reasons best known to the prosecution, which is clearly fatal to the case of the prosecution,” the court observed.
The court noted that the prosecution had failed to explain the status of the other body cameras worn by police personnel on duty that night.
“So far as the alleged body camera worn by HC Satpal is concerned, which has been claimed to be broken, the said camera has not been produced in the court as case property, not even in broken shape,” the court remarked.
The court said that it is the case of the prosecution that the accused was under the influence of liquor and that he was got medically examined in GMSH-16, Chandigarh. “In this regard, the testimony of PW-5 Dr Sunny Mehta shows that during his examination in chief, he has stated that at the time of examination of Jasdeep Singh, he was conscious and oriented to time, place and person. …but during his cross examination, he stated that he has not conduced any specific test regarding the accused being under the influence of liquor.”
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Taking note of these inconsistencies, the court thus said that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case beyond shadow of reasonable doubt, as the prosecution version is surrounded by suspicious circumstances, hence, no ground to convict the accused is made out.
Consequently, the court acquitted Jasdeep Singh of all charges related to the alleged assault and obstruction of duty, stating that no conclusive proof had been produced to establish his guilt.
