SC rejects magistrate's report in Tarn Taran incident

The Supreme Court today rejected the magisterial probe report of the Tarn Taran incident in which a girl was beaten up by Punjab Police saying it does not have the value more that of a "scrap paper".
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and Kurien Joseph said that findings of the report were "misleading the statement of facts" and it should be "thrown in a dustbin".
"The report is rejected. It is misleading and containing wrong facts," the bench said, adding, "It does not have the value more that the scrap paper to be thrown in dustbin".
The bench ordered that the girl be provided protection and directed the Secretary, Union Territory of Chandigarh administration, to make available adequate security to her. It clarified that the security provided to the girl should not be from Punjab Police.

During the proceedings, the bench got infuriated on reading the report which said that such baton charges do happen and warned the state government of imposing a heavy penalty if such incident recurs in the state.
"Do you not feel ashamed when a lady is beaten up by police and the state DGP goes on television on that very day justifying the action without conducting any inquiry against police officials," it asked.

The bench, at one time during the hearing, said that DGP and district magistrate will have to be personally present on the next date of hearing to answer its query. But their presence were not mentioned in the order dictated in the open court. The case was posted for further hearing on April 11.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati said it was amazing that the father of the girl was asked to sign a compromise deal in the police station. Senior advocate Harish Salve, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, said the magistrate's report is atrocious.
The court had earlier taken suo-motu cognisance of news reports on separate incidents in which a woman was beaten up in Punjab and some women teachers were assaulted in Patna during an agitation. The bench said it will go through the response of the Bihar DGP and Patna SSP on the issue on the next hearing.
It had issued notices to the Centre and states saying the beating up of innocent and unarmed people was "animal behaviour".

On March 4, the 22-year-old girl and her father were thrashed by constables when she had approached them for lodging a complaint against harassment by a truck driver and his accomplices in Tarn Taran.
In the other incident, Bihar Police personnel had on March 5 resorted to baton charge and fired tear gas shells during a protest by contractual teachers outside the assembly in Patna demanding regularisation of their jobs and pay parity with regular teachers.
The bench said that the ailment starts at the grass-roots level at the time of recruitment which is done for extraneous considerations.