Vikas, friend refused blood, urine tests; cops were okay
After its flip-flop on invoking attempt to abduction sections and CCTV footage, another glaring lapse in investigation by Chandigarh Police has come to light in the case of alleged stalking of an IAS officer’s daughter by Vikas Barala, the son of Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala, and his friend.
When the city police got conducted medical examination of Vikas and Ashish Kumar two hours prior to registration of the first information report (FIR) on August 5, the duo refused to give blood and urine samples. No medical examination was conducted after registration of the case.
The medical examination report given by the doctors of Civil Hospital, Manimanjra, was based on observation. “Their breath smelled of alcohol and their eyes were red (congestion of the conjunctiva) and both denied to give blood and urine samples to testify the blood alcohol content,” reads the report.
Though the police insist that they got the medical examination and are refusing to go into details, legal experts feel they should have insisted on blood and urine samples of the two accused. The reason: the findings of these two tests would have helped strengthen their case. The proof of drunkenness, according to legal experts, would have further “aggravated their culpability”.
Also, the police also could have added sections of non-bailable offence category on the basis of blood or urine sample reports.
Punjab and Haryana high court senior advocate Atul Lakhanpal said they could have compelled the accused for medical examination.
“It would have helped the police in quantifying the degree of offence,” he said adding that that however, even now it would be presumed that they were under the influence of liquor.
“There is cast-iron case of stalking against the two accused even though they were not medically examined (blood and urine sample not taken), the proof of drunkenness would have further aggravated their culpability,” said senior advocate Anupam Gupta.
He added since medical examination by force is permissible under section 53 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), when accused is arrested. “It is apparent that one of the main reasons for not registering a non-bailable offence was to avoid medical examination,” Gupta added.
He further said the medical examination was absolutely imperative because doctors found them to be drunk and the motive of police in not arresting the accused stand exposed now with this revelation.
The medical report of Vikas Barala mentions, “The patient is conscious, oriented and vitals (pulse rate, blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate) are stable.” “His breath smelled of alcohol (present), conjunctiva was congested (red eyes), gait and speech were normal and there were no external marks of injuries.”
The report of Ashish Kumar was almost similar. “Breath smelled of alcohol (present), conjunctiva was congested, gait and speech were normal.”
“It is the job of an investigating officer (IO) to ask the doctors to take the blood and urine samples. Doctors cannot force the patient, until unless IO orders it. In this case, police did not take the initiative and they never asked doctors to take blood or urine sample,” said a senior doctor from the health department.
“Had the police asked us, we would have forcefully taken the samples,” he said.
When asked how important it is to take blood and urine sample, another senior doctor from Government Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16 said, “It strengthens the case in court.” “If somebody contests in court against the medical report, then the blood/urine report is utilised as a supportive/supplementary documentation to prove that the person was drunk,” said a doctor. He said, “Analysis of blood and urine samples for blood alcohol content is more accurate and can also tell us the amount of alcohol intake.”
DGP TS Luthra did not respond to call and text messages. SSP Eish Singhal said that medical examination was conducted. But he did not specify as to when and whether blood or urine samples were taken or not.
CHANDIGARH: The midnight stalking episode involving the son of Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala has come as a body blow to the image of the state party unit and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar at a time when they had gone on a publicity blitzkrieg on completing 1,000 days of what they called “successful governance”.
Also, the nationwide outrage that has followed is a huge embarrassment to the party’s image-building projects such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
The BJP found itself on the back foot overnight after Barala’s son Vikas Barala (23) accompanied by his friend Ashish Kumar (27) allegedly chased Varnika Kundu (29) a disc jockey, when she was driving back to her Panchkula home from Sector 9 in Chandigarh on the August 4 night.
The victim is the daughter of Haryana-cadre IAS officer Virender Singh Kundu. The accused, who were drunk, were released on bail by Chandigarh police after a case of stalking, drunk driving and wrongful restraint was registered against them.
The incident, which came a day after BJP national chief Amit Shah completed his three-day visit to Haryana, has cast a shadow on Shah’s push to galvanise the state party cadre for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
While camping in Rohtak, Haryana’s political nerve centre, Shah had injected fresh energy and ideas into the state leadership. The party had planned a series of programmes to mobilise the cadre and propagate the party’s achievements. All these plans have been put on hold and the party is desperately trying to duck or deflect the blow.
By announcing that the party will fight the 2019 assembly election under the command of Khattar, Shah had also used his Rohtak visit to send a clear message to the party rank and file.
This had not only strengthened Khattar but also Barala, a staunch Khattar loyalist. Now, the outrage threatens to hit the otherwise clean image of Khattar who has been backing Barala. The anti-Khattar lobby has begun raising its hood again.
Khattar’s statement that the father couldn’t be punished for his son’s misdemeanor also exposed the caste fault lines in the party.
Two non-Jat MPs and known Khattar baiters, Rajkumar Saini (Kurukshetra) and Ashwani Kumar (Karnal) have publicly demanded beleaguered Barala’s resignation.
With this, the anti-Khattar-Barala lobby has become active again. They argue that the BJP’s inaction against the state party chief and public shaming of the girl by a section of party leaders has dented the credibility of the party in the eyes of an angry public.
But the lofty ‘Raj Manohar, Kaam Hazaar’ campaign pales in front of gravity of the alleged incident as crimes against women continue to spiral in the state. Recovery of the BJP from the damage is the key challenge before Khattar.
CM’S STATEMENT THAT FATHER CANNOT BE PUNISHED FOR SON’S ACTS ALSO EXPOSED CASTE FAULTLINES IN THE PARTY, WITH TWO MPS AND KHATTAR BAITERS SEEKING BARALA’S RESIGNATION