Police have informants only for petty offences: High Court

 

Raising questions about the credibility of Gujarat Police’s efforts to curb bootlegging, the High Court of Gujarat on Thursday asked whether police have informants who tip them off about major offences, as they seem to have informants only for petty offences.

Justice Umesh Trivedi continued questioning the police department’s handling of liquor prohibition during the hearing of an anticipatory bail plea filed by one Sonu Rajput, in a bootlegging case. On Wednesday, the High Court had raised questions about the police department’s approach to apprehending bootleggers.

 

Rajput faces 3 prohibition cases, including the present one in Gandhinagar district, where the distribution of IMFL stock was allegedly taking place at his behest. The High Court questioned the state government’s decision to appoint a special prosecutor in this case.

The Govt Lawyer could not explain why special treatment was given to this case. She only said that the quantity of liquor was huge. To this, the judge said, “It (the quantity) is always huge, but you don’t use your powers to arrest people. You remain satisfied with information & do not collect any material against the accused.”

The judge further questioned the source of the information & commented on the credibility of such intelligence inputs about liquor caches.

He also inquired whether the state government has a policy on information gathering by cops & acting on such inputs.

The Judge said, “You (cops) conduct raids when little material is left out & allege that they (bootleggers) have taken away the large chunk. I doubt the genuineness of information & your zeal to arrest the real culprits".

The Court further asked whether cops are supposed to pen down information about liquor or inform their higher-ups. “Is there any guideline? Otherwise, any constable will claim that he received information from his informer.

 

There must be some streamlining of information,” Justice Trivedi said. He then commented on the quality of tips the cops get, “You don’t have any informant who informs you about major offences. You have informants for such petty offences.”

The HC admitted Rajput’s anticipatory bail & directed the cop who registered the FIR & the investigator to remain present in court in two weeks’ time.

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 (With input from news agency language) 

 

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