Allahabad High Court denies bail to policemen who allegedly leaked information about police action to gangster Vikas Dubey

The Allahabad High Court has rejected the bail plea of Station Officer Vinay Tiwari and Sub-Inspector KK Sharma who were arrested for allegedly leaking information about police action to gangster Vikas Dubey (Vinay Kumar Tiwari v. State of UP).While rejecting the bail plea, single judge Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava said that it was evident that the accused/applicants had prior information regarding the police raid and they 'evidently' revealed it to gangster. "There are policemen, may be very few in numbers, who show their loyalty more to such gangster than to their department for the reasons best known to them," the Court observed.The act of the accused not only alerted the gangsters but also enabled them to prepare for a counter attack leading to a shoot out in which 8 police personnel lost their lives. ."It is also evident that the main accused persons had prior information of the police raid and naturally, in the present set of facts, this information was revealed by police which not only made the main accused persons alert but also provided them fullest opportunity to prepare for attack and commit such a horrendous crime in which 8 police personnel including the Circle Officer sustained gunshot injuries and died," the order said. .Tiwari and another policeman were arrested in 2020 on charges of allegedly leaking information about impending police action to Dubey.When the police party reached Dubey's hideout, they were met with a strong counter attack leaving 8 police officials dead besides injuring many others.Dubey himself was later nabbed from Madhya Pradesh and died while he was being brought back to Uttar Pradesh. A probe was held into that death by a commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice BC Chauhan which gave a clean chit to the Uttar Pradesh Police..A First Information Report was lodged under Sections 147, 148, 504, 323, 364, 342 and 307 of Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932.Counsel for Tiwari submitted that there was no direct or indirect evidence against him and it was a police raid conducted by the police party which was countered by the main accused persons leading to the death of police personnel.Further, it was submitted that there was no substantial evidence but only some "scattered" evidence against the accused applicants..Advocate General, Manish Goyal representing the State. submitted that the role of Sharma was evident in view of the fact that he was regularly in touch with Vikas Dubey and his gang and through him SO Vinay Tiwari was also in his touch. Both the accused applicants certainly helped them and always closed their eyes towards the criminal activities of the gang, submitted Goyal..The Court agreed while also commenting on the state of police force and police officials in comparison to gangsters.."The police force faces some real difficulty in combating with organized crime and criminal activities. The police personnel are mostly not provided with that kind of sophisticated arms which are available in plenty to the gangsters and their gang members. The police stations are mostly under-manned and the strength of police force is remarkably less in comparison to the population," the order said..The Court also said that there is a concerning trend of political parties welcoming gangsters and criminals involved in organized crime in the party. The parties try to back and protect such gangsters, painting and spreading an imaginary image of Robinhood, the Court observed."They are given tickets to contest elections and sometimes they win also. This trend needs to be stopped as soon as possible. All the political parties should sit and together a decision is required to be taken by them that gangsters and criminals will be discouraged in politics and no political party will give ticket to them in public elections," the Court emphasised while dismissing the bail plea.Political parties, the Court said, should rise above board against crime and corruption without being influenced by consideration of “his man” and “our man”.Such an approach will not only undermine rule of law but will also damage the democratic set up of the nation, the Court said..[Read Order]