Man booked for kidnapping engineering student in Udupi
Udupi (Karnataka), Mar 29 (PTI): A case has been registered against a youth in Udupi on charges of "kidnapping" a 20-year-old engineering student, based on a complaint filed by her father, police said on Saturday.
In the complaint lodged on March 20 at the Udupi Town police station, Godwin Devdas (53) stated that his daughter, who studies at an engineering college in Moodbidri, alighted from her college bus at Kukkikatte Junction, Udupi, at around 6 pm, on the same day.
According to the complainant, while she was walking towards her aunt’s house, a person identified as Akram Mohammed allegedly kidnapped her on his motorbike.
A bus driver who witnessed the incident informed Devdas about it.
Devdas mentioned that he had previously lodged a complaint against Mohammed, accusing him of harassing his daughter when she was a minor.
He alleged that the recent incident was an act of revenge. Based on his complaint, the police registered the case under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNS).
He claimed that Mohammed had been in contact with his daughter for the past five years through Instagram and had allegedly harassed her by threatening to release their intimate photos on social media.
Devdas expressed dissatisfaction with the police, stating that they had not taken any action on his complaint filed a week ago.
According to him, the police informed him that they could not intervene in a case involving consenting adults and even showed him a video of the couple living together voluntarily. “However, I am concerned about my daughter’s safety,” he said.
In response, Devdas has filed a habeas corpus petition before the High Court, seeking directions for the Udupi Town Police to produce his daughter before the court.
The petition was heard by a Division Bench on Friday and was adjourned to April 4.
Meanwhile, Mohammed has submitted an application for the registration of their marriage under the Special Marriage Act. He has also filed an application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), seeking anticipatory bail before the Udupi Principal District and Sessions Court.
According to court officials, the hearing on Mohammed’s petition has been posted for April 2 for objections from the public prosecutor.
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Complete break down of rule of law in Uttar Pradesh: Supreme Court
New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday said there was a "complete breakdown of rule of law in Uttar Pradesh" after coming across FIRs filed by the state police in civil cases.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan asked the director general of police and the station house officer of a Gautam Budh Nagar district police station to file affidavits, explaining why the criminal law was set in motion in a civil dispute.
“There is a complete breakdown of rule of law in Uttar Pradesh. Converting a civil matter into a criminal case is not acceptable,” the CJI said.
The bench was irked after a lawyer said the FIR was filed as civil disputes take a long time to settle.
“This is wrong what is happening in UP. Everyday civil suits are being converted to criminal cases. It is absurd, merely not giving money cannot be turned into an offence,” the CJI said.
“We will direct the IO (investigating officer) to come to the witness box. Let the IO stand in the witness box and make out a criminal case…this is not the way you file chargesheets,” the CJI said, "let the IO learn a lesson".
The bench further asked, "Just because civil cases take long, you will file an FIR and set the criminal law in motion?"
The IO of the police station concerned at Sector-39 in Noida was directed by the top court to appear in the witness box in the trial court and justify the registration of the FIR in the case.
The bench was hearing a plea of the accused Debu Singh and Deepak Singh, filed through lawyer Chand Qureshi, against the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash the criminal case against them.
The top court stayed the criminal proceedings against the petitioners in a Noida trial court, but said the cheque bounce case against them would continue.
An FIR was filed against the duo in Noida under Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
