JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on two women who fraudulently claimed in the court that their husbands had been illegally detained by the SHO of Beawar who was demanding Rs 10,000 as bribe for their release.
The order was passed after the additional chief judicial magistrate, Beawar, who conducted an investigation on the direction of the high court, absolved the SHO of the allegations and instead found that that the husbands of the petitioners and their relatives were noted criminals in police record.
The fine was imposed by a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice R C Gandhi and Justice Mahesh Bhagwati on Monday. The court also reverted its earlier order passed on June 29, 2009 on the issue.
According to sources, two habeas corpus petitions were filed by Sushila and Sharawn, both sisters, for the release of their husbands on the ground that the police had arrested them and demanded Rs 10,000 for their release.
Looking into the gravity of the allegations, the Bench on June 29 directed that the SHO Beawar Naresh Sharma be attached to the police lines and ordered a magistrate inquiry. The court also made some strong observations saying: “The conduct of the Station House Officer is full of doubts. He did not behave like a police officer… The police arrested them to collect money by misusing the public authority..”
However, when the magistrate conducted the inquiry, it was found that the story given by the two women was false. Not only the police did not make any arrest, instead it was surfaced that the two men and a few of their relatives had a criminal background.
Realising that the court had been misled by the two women, the bench observed: “The petitions have been filed just to pressurize the police so that they may not harass them as 17 cases are pending investigation.” The Bench further said that the story was projected in believable manner, which resulted in the previous order.
The bench, while dismissing the habeas corpus petitions, imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 each on the two women and directed that the SHO Beawar be given his original posting instead of police lines.
