Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Monday asked the union home ministry to pay compensation of Rs.15 lakh each to the families of two businessmen over 14 years after they were killed by a police team in a staged shootout here.

The court slammed the ministry, saying that despite the 10 police personnel being sentenced by a trial court to undergo life imprisonment in 2007, they continued in service. It asked the government to probe how they remained in office after conviction.

“The encounter had taken place in Connaught Place, which is under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government, but Delhi Police being under the ministry of home affairs, the compensation would be borne by the ministry,” said the court in an 18-page judgment.

Businessmen Pradeep Goyal and Jagjit Singh were gunned down March 31, 1997 by the now-suspended Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) S.S. Rathi and nine other policemen in central Delhi’s business and shopping hub Connaught Place.

Justice S. Muralidhar said: “The ministry will within a period of six weeks from today deposit in this court, by a cheque or draft in the name of the registrar general, a sum of Rs.15 lakh being the compensation amount payable to the petitioner Neema Goyal (wife of Pradeep Goyal) and her son Naman Goyal. The said amount shall also be paid to Jaspal Kaur (wife of Jagjit Singh) and her two children on proper identification.”

The court said Rs.750,000 will be paid to Neema Goyal and the remaining Rs.750,000 will be placed in a fixed deposit with a nationalised bank in the name of Naman Goyal.

“After he attains majority, Naman can withdraw the amount in the fixed deposit together with the interest,” the court directed.

The court directed the ministry to pay Rs.500,000 each to Jaspal Kaur and her two children.

Justice Muralidhar expressed surprise that the police personnel continued in service despite being sentenced by the trial court to undergo life imprisonment.

“This court expresses its surprise that there are such rules that permit police officials convicted of heinous crimes like murder to remain in service even after conviction by the trial court. The secretary, home ministry, will examine this position and inform this court whether it is unique to Delhi or prevails elsewhere in the country,” the court said.

It was a matter of grave concern that policemen convicted and sentenced for murder continued in service in Delhi Police for over 12 years after the murder and for nearly three years after their conviction, it said.

“It can hardly be a matter of debate that there must be zero tolerance for criminal behaviour by men in uniform entrusted with the task of law enforcement and the protection of the life and liberty of persons,” the court said.

“Policemen must be held to the highest standards of probity and conduct. It is not a little surprising that even after the anomaly was pointed out by the court, the ministry and the Delhi government were discussing and deliberating on whether to take disciplinary action against ACP Rathi,” said the court.

“Their response to the inexplicable delay in the action against Rathi and the nine other policemen is reflective of an approach that is typically lackadaisical,” the court observed.

“Both the ministry and the Delhi government have to be held answerable and accountable in law for this obvious failure to take prompt disciplinary action against policemen convicted and sentenced for murder of two innocent citizens.”

“The court is, therefore, constrained to direct the ministry to institute an inquiry by a senior level officer not below the rank of additional secretary to inquire into the facts and circumstances under which there was delay in taking disciplinary action against the 10 convicted policemen and fix the responsibility on the concerned officers of the ministry and the Delhi government,” the court observed.

Besides Rathi, other suspended policemen sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life were Inspector Anil Kumar, Sub-Inspector Ashok Rana, Head Constables Shiv Kumar, Tejpal Singh and Mahavir Singh and Constables Sumer Singh, Subhash Chand, Sunil Kumar and Kothari Ram.

All of them were members of a police force and were supposed to be custodians of law and the fact that 34 rounds were fired at the helpless occupants travelling in a car, showed the extreme depravity of their crime, the court had said at the time.

The widows of the two victims had approached the court seeking compensation of Rs.2 crore each.