Supreme Court upholds conviction of former Punjab jail officer in prisoner escape conspiracy
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a former Punjab jail officer for conspiring to help an undertrial prisoner's escape. The court upheld the Sessions Court's and the Punjab and Haryana High Court's rulings on August 11.
The incident had occurred on November 30, 2010. According to report published in Bar & Bench, two head constables were bringing an undertrial prisoner to Talwandi Sabo Court, escorted by the accused officer. Instead of using the official police vehicle, the officer suggested returning in a private Qualis. Near a village, two unidentified persons in the vehicle’s rear compartment attacked the escorting officers by throwing red chilli powder into their eyes and assaulting them with a knife and kirpan. Despite the attack, the prisoner was unable to escape as he was handcuffed and chained to a constable’s belt. The injured officers and prisoner were taken to hospital and an FIR was registered. The accused officer remained unharmed but fled the scene.
The trial court in 2014 found that the officer had arranged the private vehicle. He orchestrated the stop at an isolated location, neglected his duty to protect the escorts and absconded following the assault. According to the coyrt these factors collectively established his involvement in the conspiracy. The High Court upheld the conviction in 2023, after which the accused appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, after examining the entire context, including the officer’s role in arranging the private vehicle, occupying the front seat, the presence of unidentified attackers, the isolated stop, the assault, his lack of injury and subsequent disappearance, concluded there was a clear concert of action between the accused and the assailants. The bench noted that such offences are rarely proven through direct evidence and must be inferred from the accused’s conduct and surrounding circumstances.
The Court stated, “As a public servant entrusted with safeguarding the rule of law and the custody of prisoners, he did not merely default in his duties, he actively undermined the justice system. When public functionaries betray institutional trust, the consequences are profound and far-reaching. In a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law, custodial officers must be held to the highest standards of integrity. Any deviation amounts not only to legal delinquency but to a grave institutional and moral breach.”
Finding no grounds to reduce the sentence, the Court dismissed the appeal and ordered immediate custody of the accused to serve the remainder of his sentence.
The accused was represented by M/S Delhi Law Chambers, with advocates AK Walia and Debjani Das Purkayastha, while the State was represented by advocates Karan Sharma, Mohit Siwach, and Chetan Manchanda.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
