The Karnataka High Court.
Credit: DH File Photo
The high court on Friday orally observed that people’s representatives have no business to enter a police station and obstruct their work. Justice Krishna S Dixit observed this during the hearing on a petition filed by BJP MLA from Belthangady Harish Poonja.
The court was hearing the petition filed by Poonja challenging proceedings against him for obstructing and intimidating police. The Belthangady police had registered two FIRs against Poonja, both pertaining to intimidating police and using unconstitutional language against them. The court ordered notice to the police.
The counsel for Poonja submitted before the court that on the night of May 19, 2024, wife of one Shashiraj Shetty, a BJP Yuva morcha member, had called the MLA to inform that her husband had been taken away by the police. The counsel submitted that Poonja had to visit the station as Shetty was detained without an FIR. When enquired about this at the station, the sub-inspector did not give plausible explanation and in this exchange of words, Poonja raised his voice against the police, the counsel said.
An FIR was registered against Poonja under IPC sections 353 and 504 and subsequently another FIR was registered for staging a protest and voicing intimidating language against the police the next day. The counsel for Poonja submitted that on the night of May 19 an FIR was registered against Shashiraj Shetty for alleged illegal mining under Explosive Substances Act.
During the hearing, Justice Dixit was not convinced by the stand taken by Poonja’s counsel that he had to visit the police station to address the grievance of a citizen. “What is your legal right to go to a police station? If police detain a terrorist, his wife may claim her husband is a pious person, but will you go to the police station? If someone is arrested illegally then a habeas corpus petition can be filed.”
The court orally said, “The court is against elected representatives going to the police stations. Protecting the citizens from the police force is one aspect, but we also need to protect the police. In the administration of the criminal justice system police probes cannot be interfered with.”