Chandigarh, July 27, 2023: As per media reports, The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed an officer of the Punjab Police to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to an accused charged under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, for allegedly registering a First Information Report (FIR) against him even before creating a basis for it.
The sub-inspector of City Hoshiarpur police station was ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to the man for allegedly registering FIR against him even before creating a basis for it.
According to the news published in The Indian Express, the bench of Justice Rajbir Sehrawat, while hearing the matter on Wednesday, observed that there is nothing to support the case of the prosecution, even as per the assertions of the police. As such, the petitioner deserves to be protected against his arrest, the judge said.
As per the case, the petitioner, Pushpinder Kumar, was booked on May 9 under Sections 15, 18, 20, 21, and 22 of the NDPS Act at City Hoshiarpur police station in Punjab.
The petitioner’s counsel advocate Ajay Pal Singh Rehan contended that the case against him is totally false, frivolous, concocted and the same has been registered at the behest of a sub-inspector of City Hoshiarpur police station with a mala fide intention.
It Was argued that there is nothing either with the police or on record to substantiate anything against the petitioner and the petitioner has been sought to be involved in the case only because of the earlier cases; which were also fabricated, said the advocate, arguing that the petitioner hence deserves to be granted protection for being arrested.
The government counsel submitted that the police had gone to the house of the petitioner based on secret information that he was indulging in the peddling of narcotic drugs and substances. “The said house was found locked. Therefore, the petitioner is involved in the offence, however, it is not disputed that nothing was recovered from the petitioner or from the alleged house of the petitioner,” the government counsel said.
The bench thus without commenting on the merits of the case, ordered that in the event of arrest, the petitioner be released on bail, subject to his furnishing personal bonds/surety to the satisfaction of the arresting/investigating officer.
Justice Sehrawat asserted, “Since the FIR has been got registered even before creating a basis for that, and due to the FIR, the petitioner has been put to the harassment and expenses, therefore, the person, who got the said FIR registered against the petitioner without any basis is directed to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to the petitioner within a period of four weeks from today”.
