Jahanvi Agarwal
On 3rd September i.e., Sunday night, the Allahabad High Court carried out a special hearing to initiate a suo motu case about the recent attack on a female officer of the Uttar Pradesh Police, who was discovered wounded on a train.
Based on a WhatsApp message the Chief Justice received, a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava took suo motu notice of the event at 8:00 PM on Sunday. The said matter was heard in Chief Justice Diwaker’s residence.
The Court ordered that the letter be recorded as a public interest litigation (criminal), given the gravity of the matter.
It addressed notices to the State of Uttar Pradesh, the State Commission for Women, Uttar Pradesh, the Union Ministry of Railways, and the Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).
In this instance, the injured woman cop was discovered lying beneath the lower berth in the general coach by a passenger who boarded the Saryu Express train from Ayodhya junction and informed the railway police about the women cop. She is reportedly stable right now.
In a letter petition brought before the court on behalf of the victim, Advocate Ram Kaushik, who appeared for the cop, claimed that the event occurred on the night of August 30 and August 31, 2023.
The cop was discovered in a pool of blood, unable to walk on her own, with a large cut on her face and other wounds, according to Advocate Kaushik.
A first information report (FIR) was allegedly filed under Sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to prevent a public servant from performing his duty), 353 (assault or use of criminal force to prevent a public servant from performing his duty), and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in response to a written complaint from the victim’s brother.
Advocate Kaushik added that looking to the serious as well as physical condition of the officer, Sections 376/376D (rape) of the IPC should have also been added in the FIR.
It was argued that the railway authorities had utterly failed to put safety precautions for women into place.
The NDOH for the said matter is scheduled for 04.092023 i.e., Monday at noon.
Case Name: Ram Kaushik v. Union Of India And Ors.
Bench: Justice Ashutosh Srivastava and Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker