[Police harassment] "What does the High Court do other than talk? We hear these things from people:" Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday, while hearing a case regarding alleged police harassment of a Delhi family, made some acute observations regarding the the apparent downward trajectory of people's faith in the judicial system (Suo motu vs. State of Kerala)..Justice Devan Ramachandran refused to close a matter taken up by the Court suo motu, after a lawyer brought to its notice news reports on the plight of the family which was allegedly subjected to demands of bribes upto ₹5 lakh by police officers who refused to release their daughters from a care home.."People's faith in us sinking. What does the High Court do other than talk? We hear these things from people. Of course, the general public doesn't know the limitations of my jurisdiction, when they look, they think this is an all powerful institution. I will not let this go so easily. I believe in my constitutional oath and intend to keep this pending for some time. I want full information, that's all I'm saying. I hope you understand my resolve," Justice Ramachandran remarked orally. (emphasis added).The Director-General of Prosecution submitted a statement that the allegations of bribery were unsubstantiated due to inconsistencies in the statement given by the mother of the family. On this, Justice Ramachandran observed that the Court must be empathetic to the plight of victims and their families. "This court has to stand in the shoes of victims to understand the plight that they go through. We cannot scrutinise this with mathematical exactitude and precise dates and times from a mother who must have been terrified at the time," the Court said. (emphasis added).The Court reiterated the same in its order which said, "As regards the conclusion in the report that the allegation of the mother against the assistant sub-inspector of police of demanding the bribe is unsubstantiated, I am afraid that this court cannot grant favour to it fully as I'm certain that the totality of the allegations which entail a sordid saga of torment and harassment to the victims and family will have to be taken into account because the allegation of a bribe can generally not be proved through direct evidence but only through circumstantial ones.".However, the judge clarified that his gripe is not with the police force as a whole, rather with a few "rotten apples""People seem to have this impression that I say that the police are wrong. No, the police are not wrong. Individuals amongst police force are wrong and that is what I am trying to root out. I myself know an officer, whose name I won't take as he is still in the force, who has spent money out of his own pocket in cases like this. There are good officers like that. But this is bringing them disrepute. When instances like this occur, we must come down heavily on them," he remarked. .The Court was hearing a matter that had caught its attention due to a news report about a couple, originally from Delhi, allegedly harassed by police officials with demands of large sums of money to release their daughters who had run away . They were later traced to Delhi and brought back.The daughters had reportedly run away to Delhi to meet a boy who the eldest of the daughters had met online, but she had allegedly been sexually assaulted by two men. When the girls were finally tracked down, Kerala Police officers were flown to Delhi at the expense of the couple and they returned with the girls and one of the accused. Subsequently, the girls were moved to a care home and the police allegedly refused to release them to the parents unless a bribe of ₹5 lakh was paid. The Police also allegedly registered cases against the brothers of the girls claiming that they had molested the girls..During the previous hearing, the Court had directed the Commissioner of Police to file an Action-Taken Report with respect to the investigation against the erring police officers, particularly on the allegations of the family that they were forced to buy air tickets for them, to provide for the stay of the officers in Delhi, and that a demand of ₹5 lakhs was made by the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police..Today, the Court was told that the girls had been returned to their family and were doing well.The Director-General of Prosecution, TA Shaji, submitted a sealed document with an action-taken report on allegations against the police officers. The Court noted with appreciation that the Commissioner of Police, Kochi stated in the report that he has taken action against five police officers including an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police under the provisions of the Kerala Departmental Enquiry Punishment and Appeal Rules, 1958 and that they have been issued show-cause memos.However, it said that the specific allegation of bribe was uncorroborated. The Court said this aspect needed to be looked into further given the circumstances the family had been mired in at the time..The matter will be taken up next on December 2, 2021.