A local court has junked a Covid-19 lockdown violation case by rejecting a chargesheet filed by Bopal police against two persons who were booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. Earlier, courts in Vadodara and Mansa have rejected numerous chargesheets filed by the police in lockdown violation cases on the ground that Section 195 of the CrPC bars the court from taking cognizance of an offence registered under Section 188 of IPC.
The beneficiaries of the court order junking the police chargesheet are two brothers-in-law, Yogesh Patel and Parth Patel, who were spotted in CCTV footage riding on their scooter in Bopal area on May 20. Police summoned the vehicle owner the next day, and he identified that the persons seated on the vehicle were his son and son-in-law. Bopal police registered an FIR not only under Section 188, but also under Section 269 of IPC for their negligent act which was likely to spread Covid-19 infection.
The judicial magistrate first class at the Mirzapur rural court campus, Prithu Sharma noticed that the police personnel had not filed a private complaint in this case under Section 2(d) of the CrPC, but instead filed a report under Section 173 of the CrPC, which is a chargesheet. The court can take cognizance only upon the private complaint in writing of the public servant concerned or some other public servant to whom he is administratively subordinate.
The court was critical of the police for invoking Section 269 of IPC and other charges under the Gujarat Police Act by citing the Epidemic Diseases Act and the National Disaster Management Act.
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