[Breaking] Telangana HC Seeks Response In A Suo Moto Case For Use Of Police Excesses During COVID Lockdown

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday in a suo moto hearing pertaining to the use of police excesses against people violating lockdown, inquired into the action taken by authorities against police officials involved in an incident at Wanaparthy and sought the Advocate General's response.

The case was taken up today in light of a letter filed by Advocate Umesh Chandra PVG in wee hours of the morning of April 4, 2020 at 4 AM, to bring the attention of the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court to an incident at Wanaparthy, where police constables had beaten up a man in front of his child.

One of the alleged officials involved was suspended after the incident floated on social media like wildfire and created a furore in the whole of Telangana. 

The letter stated,

"One such manifestly glaring abuse of authority by local police has been at full display in Wanaparthy on Thursday, April 2nd 2020 when a motorist (Presumably his name is Murali Krishna) who went out to get milk and other groceries to his parents was assaulted by a policeman, Constable not in uniform, on road. Regrettably, the other policemen stood like mute spectators and the victim was beaten up mercilessly in front of his own son (Presumably his name is Nikrosh). In the video floated on social media, it is as clear as daylight that the son pleaded with the policemen not to beat his father."

During the hearing, which was conducted via Video Conferencing, Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan inquired the Advocate General of the State whether action had been taken and FIRs had been filed against the guilty officials. 

Advocate Umesh Chandra PVG who had written the aforementioned letter, stated that even though, a swift response from the Superintendent of Police was an "unequivocally welcoming gesture", "the suspension act against one policeman when multiple policemen were involved was apparently done to cool down tempers of aggrieved souls and was a mere eyewash and nothing less than a symbolic gesture"

Apart from an interim relief to direct Director General of Police, State of Telangana and Superintendent Of Police, Wanaparty to lodge a First Information Report against the alleged perperators, Chandra had also prayed for constituting a judicial committee to inquire into all incidents of police violence and the use of force against the citizens in the state during the lockdown period.

In light of this, the Court observed that since this was a one-off incident, it could not have been extrapolated to mean that it was a usual occurrence and listed the matter for April 17, 2020.

Click Here To Download Letter

[Read Letter]