Gauhati HC halts Barpeta Court's observations against Assam Police in Mevani's Bail order

On Monday, The Gauhati High Court halted some of a lower court's findings against Assam police last week while granting bail to Jignesh Mevani, an Independent MLA from Gujarat, in a case of alleged assault on a female police officer.

Following Mevani's release on bail on April 29, the Assam government, through its home department, petitioned the Supreme Court for a stay on the observations issued by Barpeta district and sessions judge Aparesh Chakravarty, claiming that they cast doubt on the police force and could impact morale.

Chakravarty stated in his bail order that the case against the MLA was "manufactured" by Assam police with the purpose of keeping him in custody for a longer period of time by "abusing the court and the law."

Justice Devashish Baruah issued notice in the State of Assam's appeal and halted the unfavourable remarks while stating that the ruling should not be taken as a stay on the District Judge's grant of bail to the Congress leader.

Vadgam MLA Mevani was arrested at first over an allegedly offensive and derogatory tweet directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was granted bail in that case, but was soon arrested again after a female police officer accused him of disrespecting her modesty.

The High Court noted that the Barpeta Sessions Court's observations were made without any evidence to back them up. 

"These observations were made without any materials on record on which the learned Judge may have made such observations," the High Court stated. "As a result, this Court stays the above quoted observations until further orders."

The High Court order made it clear, however, that its observations in this case are not intended to delay Mevani's bail, for which the State is allowed to pursue separate legal action.

The Assam State government, represented by Advocate-General Devajit Saikia, had approached the High Court after a Sessions Judge, in granting bail to the Congress leader in a case of alleged assault, had made strong observations about the police, particularly about alleged fake encounters to kill accused persons.

Significantly, Chakravarty raised concerns in his 13-page bail order about the growing number of deaths and injuries of accused persons in Assam following their arrest and alleged attempts to flee police custody.

The judge dismissed the first information report in the assault case as "fake" and said it was an attempt to provide credence to the arrest of people at midnight. It said that Assam was turning into a police state and requested the High Court to order the police to wear body cameras and install CCTV during arrests.

The Attorney General claimed before the High Court that the remarks were made during the hearing of Mevani's plea and had nothing to do with bail.

The remarks cast aspersions on the police force and will have a "cascading effect" on the morale of the Assam Police, according to the AG.

The High Court further stated that the lower court's finding that the case appeared to be contrived in order to keep Mevani in custody for an extended period of time was outside its jurisdiction in a bail case.

The order also allowed the identity of the second respondent, the initial complainant (a female police officer), to be removed from the plea.