Aishwarya Rathore-
The Supreme Court has chastised Madhya Pradesh’s State and Police officials for seeking to conceal the spouse of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA accused of killing congress politician Devendra Chourasia in a sharply worded decision.
The Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hrishikesh Roy strongly objected to the fact that Police officials tried to pressurise trial court judge, and shield the accused Govind Singh.
The Court noted, “Singh’s spouse was an MLA and that is why security was granted to Singh. Effort has been made to shield the accused from the process of criminal justice system.”
In response to the son of a deceased Congress leader’s claim that the Trial Judge was under pressure from a BSP MLA, the Court stated that such attitudes toward the judiciary must change.
The Court observed, “Independence of judiciary is the independence of each and every judge, so that they are independent of their superiors also. Colonial mindset meted out to district judiciary has to change.”
As a result, the Court revoked the accused’s bail, citing the police’s utter failure to conclude the murder investigation.
The Court also rejected the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s refusal to intervene in the accused’s bail.
The Court said, “It was a clear case for cancellation of bail but the High Court have 90 days time to complete the probe.”
The verdict came on a plea by Devendra Chourasia’s son, Somesh Chourasia.