Ahmedabad: A police inspector from Jamnagar City approached the Gujarat high court on Monday against an order from a district court to initiate a disciplinary inquiry against him. This was due to his alleged filing of a criminal case in what was deemed a purely civil dispute.
According to the case details, inspector N A Chavda filed a petition to quash an order passed by additional sessions judge at Jamnagar, R V Mandani, on April 9. This order was issued while granting anticipatory bail to Manju Pande, whose case was being investigated by Chavda. The court ordered the superintendent of police to initiate a disciplinary inquiry and departmental action against Chavda for setting criminal law in motion.
The decision to file an FIR in a clearly time-barred matter of a purely civil dispute was seen as an attempt to aid the complainant in recovering a time-barred debt, as stated in the sessions court’s order. The court also requested a primary compliance report from the SP within a month and a final compliance report within six months.
In his petition filed through advocate Utkarsh Dave before the HC, Chavda urged for the quashing of the sessions court’s order. The petition contends that the scope of the court’s powers when deciding an anticipatory bail application is confined to releasing the applicant. “The learned court cannot step out of the provisions of Section 482 of BNSS and issue directions that are not prescribed under BNSS section,” the petition reads.
The petition further argues that it is well settled that even if there is any lapse on the part of the officer, the court can only present those facts to the disciplinary authority for consideration. It cannot direct the disciplinary authority to initiate action against the erring official or step into the shoes of the disciplinary authority.
Moreover, the petition states that although the investigation is not completed and no chargesheet is filed in this case, the court has “conducted a mini trial and presumed the existence of evidence to pass the impugned order. This is not permissible in the law”.