Court Discharges Investigating Officer in Custodial Death Case, Citing Lack of Evidence.
21 November 2024
Evidence >> Criminal Law | Investigation >> Criminal Law | Theft >> Criminal Law
This case of Siddappa Kashiraya Savli v/s State of Maharashtra., involves a challenge to an order dated 25.10.2002, where the Sessions Court rejected the discharge application of the Applicant, Mr. Siddappa Kashiraya Savli, the Investigating Officer (I.O.) in a case involving the death of a suspect, Pandurang Dharma Patil, during police custody. The incident occurred on 29.09.1993, and the Applicant was assigned to investigate a theft case registered on 19.09.1993. The Court had previously discharged Accused No. 1, the Police Inspector in charge, due to lack of evidence against him. However, the Applicant's discharge was rejected based on the claim that he directed the arrest of the deceased, though no direct evidence supported this.
The Court found the reasoning for rejecting the Applicant’s discharge to be vague and insufficient. The departmental inquiry into the case had exonerated the Applicant, and the evidence from eye-witnesses did not substantiate the claim that he directed the deceased’s arrest or knew of the third-degree treatment leading to the death. As there was no evidence supporting the Applicant's involvement, the Court ruled that he should be treated the same as Accused No. 1 and discharged from the charges. The revision application was allowed, and the impugned order was set aside.
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973