Other States - Rajasthan   

Rajasthan uproar over Supreme Court strictures

JAIPUR: The Supreme Court’s strictures against the Rajasthan police for their failure to arrest a man convicted of raping a British woman in Udaipur following cancellation of his bail led to acrimonious scenes in the State Assembly on Tuesday with the opposition BJP alleging a breakdown of law and order in the State along with the demand for immediate resignation of Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal.

The House was adjourned twice for an hour each before the day’s business was hurriedly completed amid the din even as the agitated BJP members took exception to the police failure to arrest the accused despite the Supreme Court’s order and trooped into the well of the House during Zero Hour while raising slogans against the Congress-led Government.

“The government that cannot capture a criminal despite the order of the highest court of the country deserves to be dismissed,” said BJP MLA and former Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria. The BJP members said the strictures passed by the Supreme Court should be taken very seriously, while the ruling party should be “ashamed of itself for bringing a bad name to the State”.

A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court came down heavily on the State police on Monday for its failure to comply with the court order of January 16 this year to arrest the accused, Parbat Singh alias Rana, and observed that the view of police that they could get away without complying with the directions was “totally unacceptable and against the constitutional mandate”.

The apex court gave “one last opportunity” to the State administration and police to arrest Parbat Singh within a week and summoned the State Home Secretary to explain whey the court orders were not being complied with.

Parbat Singh, a resident of Udaipur, had allegedly raped the British tourist who was staying in his hotel in January 2008. A fast-track Sessions court in the city convicted him under Section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code within four months and sentenced him to life imprisonment. When the accused preferred an appeal before the Rajasthan High Court, a Division Bench suspended his sentence and granted him bail during the pendency of his appeal. The rape victim challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court while pointing out that the accused could flee the country despite being convicted of a serious offence.

Though the Supreme Court cancelled Parbat Singh’s bail on January 16 this year and ordered the State police to arrest him, the police have failed to capture him during the past six months. The apex court’s order on Monday said the police had “sought to put forward all kinds of excuses and pretexts”.

Mr. Dhariwal’s assertion during the uproar that the Supreme Court had not made any adverse remarks “against the State Government per se” failed to convince the BJP MLAs.

Mr. Dhariwal said amid repeated interruptions that this was not the first time the apex court had expressed displeasure at the failure of the State administration and added that severe strictures were passed during the violent Gujjar agitation when the BJP was in power .

While accepting the “lapse” on the part of police in not arresting Parbat Singh after the cancellation of his bail, the Minister said incidents of rape of foreign women were earlier reported in Ajmer, Alwar and Jodhpur. He criticised the previous BJP regime for not arresting the Bhawani Mandi municipality chairman accused in a drugs case for five years.

Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat thereafter adjourned the House for the day as the issue remained unresolved and the day’s listed business of tabling of papers was hurriedly carried out.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Rajasthan uproar over Supreme Court strictures
‘No observations against State’
Dalits get their due as Pahadia is rehabilitated
Crop loans for all Rajasthan ryots

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu