A Division Bench of the Tripura High Court comprising Chief Justice Akil Quresi and Justice Arindam Lodh, while dealing with a PIL seeking criminal action against the District Magistrate who misused and abused his official authority while crashing at a lockdown wedding, has observed that taking men, women, and children to the Police Stations and detaining them for about 2 hours was unnecessary, unjust and unreasonable.
“Taking men, women and children to the Police Stations and detaining them for about 2 hours was totally unnecessary, unjust and unreasonable. This is undoubtedly a very serious matter.”
Background of the Case
In this case, two petitions were filed. The first- in the form of a PIL was filed on behalf of the Groom's brother and it was stated in the PIL that on April 26, 2021 the District Magistrate (DM) raided the guest house in which marriages were taking place and where COVID protocol was not followed. The petitioner further stated that the DM misused his power and misbehaved with all the members present at the wedding.
The second Petition was filed by the Priest who was present in the marriage function. He submitted that DM hit and assultted him.
Reasoning and Decision of the Court
On an earlier occasion, the Court ordered the inclusion of a former District Judge in the Committee constituted by the State Government. The committe submitted its report and considering its contents, the Court expounded that,
“we propose to request the Inquiry Committee to carry out further inquiries in relation to certain aspects which have emerged from the said report; we do not wish that the report is made public at present.”
Highlights of the Report observed by the Court
"1- Taking men, women and children to the Police Stations and detaining them for about 2 hours was totally unnecessary, unjust and unreasonable.
2- 13 women and 6 children of the marriage party were taken to Women Police Station and they were released in the wee hours of the next morning
3- They had to arrange their own transportation to return to their homes. The Court made much reliance on the first highlight and expressed it as “a very serious matter”.''
The Court further held that,
“this report does not indicate as to under whose orders the members of the marriage party including women and children were detained. Let the Inquiry Committee carry out further inquiry into this aspect of the matter and submit its additional report in sealed covers before the Court on the next date of hearing.”
The Court listed the matter on 22nd June 2021 for the next hearing.
Case Details
Case: - W.P. (C) (PIL) No.05/2021 , W.P. (C) No.346/2021
Counsel for Petitioner: - Ms. R. Guha, Mr. D.J. Saha, Mr. Somik Deb, Mr. Abir Baran
Counsel for Respondent: - Mr. S.S. Dey , Ms. Ayantika Chakraborty
Judge: Chief Justice Akil Quresi and Justice Arindam Lodh
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