The Gujarat High Court on Thursday, October 19, sentenced four accused police officers of Kheda district to 14 days of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 2000. However, following a request from one of the accused, the order was stayed for three months so that the accused could appeal against the verdict.
A bench consisting of Justices A S Supehia and Gita Gopi condemned the public flogging of Muslim men by the Kheda police during Navratri last year.
Calling it an “act against humanity”, the Gujarat High Court highlighted the physical as well as the emotional torture it can create on the victims.
Taking a quote from the late Mother Teresa, the bench said, “Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government, they are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of humanity. The right of life does not depend and must not be contingent on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign.”
The HC said that custodians of law and order should not become “depredations of civil liberties for their duty is to protect and not to abdicate”.
On Monday, the five victims refused to accept monetary compensation from four policemen who were found guilty of contempt of court for the act.
Last year during Navratri in Kheda district, a group of minorities allegedly entered a Garba venue in Undhela village and started pelting stones. Six persons were reportedly injured, according to the police.
Police arrested five people in connection to the violence. However, police officials resorted to flogging the accused in full public view instead of taking the path of law. The video of the flogging went massively viral.
