Another case falls flat: 41 accused of Panchkula riots acquitted

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Panchkula, has acquitted 41 people of violence committed in the aftermath of conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for rape in 2017. The police claimed that the accused were followers of Ram Rahim.

More than 40 people were killed in the riots and 152 cases were registered across Panchkula, but there has been no conviction so far.

The FIR in the present case was registered on the complaint of ASI Prakash Chand, who had stated that around 5 pm-5.30 pm on August 25, 2017, Head Constable Vikramjeet Singh and Home Guard Sukhwinder Singh informed him that hundreds of people had entered the Industrial Area from Sector 11/14, Panchkula, and were armed with sticks and rods. They allegedly vandalised CCTV cameras and manhandled policemen. However, the police managed to apprehend some of the individuals and seized their weapons.

The accused faced the trial for rioting, using criminal force against police personnel, disobedience of order promulgated under Section 144, CrPC, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

CJM Ajay Kumar noted that ASI Prakash Chand deposed that accused resorted to “dhakka-mukki” and crossed the picket. “There is no medical evidence available which can indicate this Court that any assault by the followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim of police officials was made/done,” said the judgment, adding that “vague allegations regarding ‘dhakka-mukki’ are not suffice.”

The judgment further said that neither the ASI nor the Head Constable deposed that “accused who are facing trial in the present case, were those followers who damaged the public property and on this score alone, the allegations against accused persons for damaging the public property needed to be rejected.”

The court underlined the difference in statements recorded by police officials. The ASI and Head Constable told the court that seizure memo of weapons, like hockey sticks and "dandas", was made on August 25, 2017, while Inspector Sunita Punia, who was the attesting witness, told the court that seizure memo was made on August 26, 2017.

The judgment said the ASI, Head Constable and the Inspector categorically admitted that the case property was never sealed.

The court concluded that seizure memo could not be proved in these circumstances, “and this fact brings under doubt the entire story of the prosecution that accused persons in any way were involved in the alleged damage to the public property”.