Skip to main content

Farmer leader's custodial 'torture': Gujarat High Court seeks report from state govt

By A Representative
The Gujarat High Court has decided to adjudicate upon a contempt application by Paalabhai Raambhai Ambalia, president of the farmers’ wing of the Gujarat Congress, following his allegation of  custodial torture at the hands of Jaydeepsinh Sarvaiya, DCP Rajkot district, and police inspector Hitesh Gadhvi, Rajkot Police Commissioner’s office.
Ambalia states in his plea that he was “brutally thrashed” by Sarvaiya and Gadhvi by showering lathi blows on his buttocks, and also threatened him that if he entered Rajkot District, he would become a victim of fake encounter.
Senior High Court advocate Anand Yagnik, representing the applicant, submitted that custodial violence is a clear violation of the directions laid down by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of DK Basu vs State of West Bengal. The court allowed the applicant to directly approach the High Court seeking contempt proceedings against the accused.
Ambalia, said Yagnik, had decided to contribute his bit in the PM Cares fund not by making monetary contribution but by supplying agricultural produce that could be used for thousands of hungry persons in the country during the lockdown.
This act of the applicant, Yagnik asserted, did not go down well with the ruling dispensation, and the “accused persons took it upon themselves to teach a lesson to the applicant”, leading to “merciless lathi blows.”
The High Court has directed the State of Gujarat as respondent to place on record what action has it taken on the complaints filed by Ambalia alleging custodial torture in his complaint submitted both to the Pradyumnanagar Police Station and the office of the Commisisoner of Police, Rajkot City. The matter is now listed for September 22.

Comments

TRENDING

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.