SC ENHANCES JAIL TERM TO 7 YEARS FOR 9 STATE COPS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday enhanced the punishment of nine policemen of Nagpur from three years RI to seven years RI, the maximum punishment permissible under Section 330 of the IPC, for causing death by torturing a person to confess a crime he has not committed.

The court held that the 3year RI imposed by the trial court was "grossly insufficient and disproportional’’ and hence enhanced it.

The case dates back to June 1993 when 10 policemen woke up a sleeping Joinus Adam Yellamati and thrashed him, resulting in his death in the police lockup next morning.

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court had in December 2007 acquitted one and waived various sentences, except the 3-year RI on the remaining nine, under Section 30. One of them died during the hearing in the Apex Court.

The Supreme Court Bench of N V Ramana and Mohan M Shantanagoudar slammed the police force, noting at the outset that it needs to develop and recognise "democratic policing", wherein crime control is not the only need, but the means to achieve it is also equally important. It also asserted that "be you ever so high, the law is always above you."

The CID probe noted that the police party, which had tortured the victim, even molested his wife Zarina and held captive his two children aged 10 and eight years in an attempt to crack the looting of three persons in the India Sun Hotel in Nagpur.

The Supreme Court enhanced the punishment, noting that the police have a primary responsibility to protect and uphold the law; but if they choose to be transgressors, the punishment has to be proportionately stringent, to have a effective deterrent effect and instil confidence in the society.

The police have a primary responsibility to protect and uphold the law; but if they choose to be transgressors, the punishment has to be proportionately stringent, to be an effective deterrent and instill confidence in society.

"Those, who are called upon to administer the criminal law, must bear in mind that they have a duty not merely to the individual accused, but also to the State and the community at large.

"Such incidents involving police usually tend to deplete the confidence in our criminal justice system much more than those incidents involving private individuals," the Bench added.