The brutal assault on Advocate Gajanand Sawant allegedly by the personnel of the Porvorim police has sent shockwaves across Goa. How did the police land up in a property where a civil matter was being discussed, is itself surprising and needs thorough investigation.
But what is important to note is that in the entire episode, what has sharply resurfaced is the fact that the police force is functioning less as a law abiding or enforcing agency and more as goons in uniform, who are being used as henchmen of the ruling political party. This is a major concern, considering the fact that this is not the first time such an incident has happened. However, political parties in power have always used the police for its own vested interests.
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But the matter of concern is that it appears the whole system has accepted that might is right, as far as police is concerned. So far, there have been no arrests, only suspension has happened. There is no proper ratio between crime and punishment. The big question is, can any investigation happen when the main perpetrators of the crime are still around and have the ability to tamper with crucial witnesses?
Speaking on the whole issue of police highhandedness, Advocate Shashank Narvekar, lawyer and Congress party block president, who has been in the forefront of the agitation of lawyers against the brutal assault on Advocate Gajanand Sawant, said, “The reason I got involved in the agitation was because of my urge to find out the reason for police highhandedness and safety of the people in general, who is look towards the policeman for a helping hand, which has turned out to be a hand that is striking them down
with lathis.”
“I have been practicing law for the past 16 years. Although I am primarily a civil lawyer, but I have seen that police in general have been overstepping the line when one goes to file a complaint or call the disputing parties to appear before them so that it can pacify them, despite the police not having any legal standing in such matters,” Adv Narvekar said.
“I have seen police constables taking bribes from the children against whom their elderly parents have filed a complaint for ill-treating them. The police don’t pay heed to the parents’ complaints. As an elected representative I have approached them for several of these issues,” he said.
He also said that there are officers who are supportive of the common man’s woes, who know their duty, are trained well and abide by the law. Yet, it has been commonly seen that in most of the cases in which involve direct contact with the people, the policemen tend to step over the line, like in the case of this head constable, who allegedly assaulted Advocate Sawant on the instructions of his superior, which is yet to be proven though.
“They exercise their might as if they are there for only a certain section of the society, which is well placed in terms of money and social status. Meanwhile the other people are forced to fend for himself and run from pillar to post, like all the lawyers had to do over the last one week, where we had no response from the Police Inspector (PI) or the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP),” the member of Mapusa Advocates
Forum said.
“The Superintendent of Police (SP), North, seemed to be too busy to pay heed to our complaint. The transfer of the file took almost two days from the Porvorim police station to the Crime Branch. The Director General of Police (DGP) also did not pay attention to this issue. I could have walked across the bridge in less time in comparison,” the Congress party Block president said.
He added that the entire government machinery seemed disinterested in taking up this matter despite repeated pleas from the lawyers made to the Chief Minister. “We urged everyone to consider the gravity of the situation wherein a person had been assaulted so brutally that he can’t remember anything about the incident,” he said.
Do the police indulge in high handedness because of the comfort that there are forces in the system that protect you even after indulging in illegality?
Advocate Advocate Yatish Naik, senior lawyer and BJP spokesperson said that this incident that has happened involving Adv Sawant needs to be investigated and is being investigated.
“In the justice delivery mechanism, there are certain definite roles which certain definite people have to perform. Police have to perform their set of roles for which they are accountable. Similar case is with the lawyers. We have a set of duties to perform. Similar is the case with the judiciary. If anybody breaches it, it is wrong. Such incidents should not happen. The assaulted lawyer, Adv Sawant is my colleague too,” Advocate Naik said.
According to him, the fact of the matter is the police have to be accountable and the accountability has to catch up with everybody, there is no doubt about it.
“If some duty is breached or excess done, it should be and is being looked into. There are complaints against the police before its own department and at the same time High Court is seized of the matter. I am very sure that justice has to be delivered and will be delivered. The ordinary persons who repose a lot of faith in the system will continue to do so if justice is delivered,” he said.
The symptom is high handedness. The disease is from where the police get the audacity to take the law into their hands in such a blatant manner. If this would have been a one-off case, we would have said that investigation is going on as it should be. But this seems to be becoming a pattern where certain policemen seem to be acting far beyond their designated role.
“Nobody is protecting anybody. Justice will be delivered. The lawyer fraternity met the honourable chief minister and he has taken some action, which is there for all to see. The seriousness of the matter is being examined and justice will be delivered,” Adv Naik assured, adding that nobody in the government will defend someone who is in breach of law.
Advocate Shashank Narvekar however differing from Adv Naik’s remarks said that if he as a common person causes any grievous injury to someone, he would be behind bars to restrict him from tampering evidence, threatening the witnesses and the victim, to make sure that the weapon is recorded with immediately.
“But this process has not been followed in this case. This is the high-handedness we are talking about. Of course, the High Court is seized of the matter and we all respect the judiciary. It will monitor the probe. But when a normal citizen indulges in a scuffle or hurts someone, he is not allowed to roam on the streets to complete his tasks. Then, why is this special treatment being given to this particular policeman?” Adv Narvekar said.
Speaking about his impression on the entire issue of police high handedness and the department’s inaction against the alleged offenders, Advocate Shankar Phadte, Member, Mapusa Advocates Forum, said that the police action and its fallout always has been to protect the accused considering that he is a colleague or a subordinate.
“The police always feel it is their prime duty to protect their colleagues. In this case, one erring police personnel crosses the line and commits an offence. The lawyer comes to the police station to file his complaint and he is made to sit for five hours. He is humiliated at the police station and at that point of time, the lawyer puts a message in the advocates’ WhatsApp group saying he is in trouble and has been assaulted,” Adv Phadte said.
“Now a new story has emerged in defence of the accused that the lawyer first assaulted the policemen and the police retaliated. In such an incident, the duty of the superior officer comes under scrutiny. The SP should have stepped in. The disciplinary action ordered by the Chief Minister should have been immediately implemented by the head of the department. But this was not done in this particular case,” he said.
Consequently, the lawyers had to come to the police station and agitate to voice their grievances, which is very unfortunate,
he said.
There seems to be a pattern than an exception, where the police overstepped its role and breached the law. Different police personnel from different police stations seem to be getting their orders from an area which is beyond policing.
Advocate Cleofato Coutinho, a political thinker and columnist, said that the policing system in the country has been traditionally known to function with high handedness.
“If you look at the police system in our country, it is known for behaving with high handedness not from now, but from the past hundred years. It is because of this fact that a statement given before the police is not considered as evidence by the law,” Adv Coutinho said.
“In the entire country, it has become a pattern to use the police in civil matters. Every MLA or a minister wants a reliable police officer in his jurisdiction. In fact, every MLA wants to have the DySp, PI and the Deputy Collector of his choice so that he could use them the way he wants. Police interference in civil matters have to be stopped once and for all,” he said.
He hoped that the High Court of Bombay at Goa, which has taken up the case, shall look into this matter of police interference in civil matters also seriously. He also did not agree that there is absolute protection of their erring subordinates by the police.
“Protection is there. But it is only to some extent. Beyond that, the superiors don’t support the subordinates. In the case involving Adv Gajanand Sawant, there has been a high voltage agitation by the lawyers. Even then, the superiors, the political establishment aren’t taking any action. The administration is delaying action. It is clear that he has the protection of his political masters and the superiors,” the political analyst said.
He said the accused in this case are getting much more protection than it is seen in normal circumstances.
“This shows that in our State, the policing and administrative system has completely collapsed. This is only an indication that when a professional is assaulted, it is very clear that the government means nothing. I think this is a very serious issue,” he said.
Advocate Yatish Naik said that in this case, justice should be delivered after proper investigation.
“As far as officers accused in this case are concerned, some action has been taken against them. The matter is under investigation. I can also say that the matter is before the High Court and it has issued notices to all concerned. Nobody is being protected. Justice will be delivered in the right manner. Please don’t drag politics into it. It may sound juicy, there is no political involvement here,” he said.
Adv Coutinho said that he did not agree that the Police Establishment Board transfers police officers. That may be done if there is a need to insulate the Board from the powers that be. That Board itself has to be independent.
“According to me, the Police Establishment Board is not independent. The various police reforms stated by the Supreme Court haven’t been implemented. The main thing is to insulate police from crime investigation, which hasn’t happened. Next is to insulate police from the government. That also hasn’t happened,” Adv Coutinho said.
In this case the High Court Bar Association approached the High Court.
“But how many times do we expect the citizens to file a petition before the High Court? Why do the citizens go to the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA)? Why should they be pushed to go to this authority? And how many citizens can afford to approach the courts, the Human Rights Commission and other such redressal bodies to get justice?” the senior political thinker asked.
He further said that in our country, such incidents of police overreaching their authority has become a common instance, which should not happen. Despite all the grievance redressal mechanisms available, excesses are still happening.
Adv Shashank Narvekar said that the success rate of these agencies in giving justice to the aggrieved persons is negligible.
“What is the success rate when you go before the SPCA? Thousands of complaints are lying in front of them. The police officer is suspended, like it has been done in Adv Sawant’s case. There is a review and the officer is soon back on duty,” Adv
Narvekar said.
Elaborating further on the ineffectiveness of the SPCA, Adv Shankar Phadte said that this body only has the power to conduct inquiry and afterwards submit the report to the DGP and subsequently, the department will take action. It is still a recommending authority.
“In how many cases have an accused police officer been demoted? There was an incident of gross human rights violation of tribals at the hands of police in Melauli, Sattari taluka last year. There was actually a constitutional violation in which freedom of speech was curtailed. The police officer after a while was back on the job, committing the same excesses he was doing earlier,” Adv Phadte said.
Adv Yatish Naik however reiterated that accountability is ensured with these authorities in place. There is a duty check.
“The police just can’t do anything arbitrarily and walk away. There are authorities to take cognizance of any violation of law committed by the force. SPCA is headed by a retired high court judge. The Human Rights Commission too is headed by a retired judge,” he said.
Earlier this year, a farmer leader at Pissurlem, Hanumant Parab was agitating with other farmers for protecting the farmlands in his area as mining trucks were moving unchecked through the farms. They were picked up by the PI of the Valpoi Police Station and the Dy SP. Hanumant Parab was taken into the police station and thrashed. He has been trying hard to get an FIR registered on his own assault. His complaint has not been converted into an FIR.
Subsequently, Parab approached all the authorities with his complaint. He wrote a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, to the President of India and the Governor of Goa. The President’s office wrote to the Chief Minister, the PMO through the Cabinet Secretary wrote a note to the Chief Secretary here asking for instructing urgent intervention into the matter.
Even after all this, Parab has yet not got justice. Even a complaint has not been registered. While these institutions exist, even the highest authorities in the country can’t get the government here to register an FIR against the man who thrashed Parab and inflicted sufferings on him.
Advocate Yatish Naik said that our law has got a vent to get your grievances redressed. If your complaint is not registered, then a complaint can be filed with the magistrate, who is empowered to take cognizance of an offence and order investigation and also monitor the investigation.
“There is a system, where there are checks and balances. But the scope of improvement is always there,” Adv Naik said.
Adv Coutinho said that while he accepted Adv Naik’s comments, the reality is even the highest authorities in the country have failed in getting justice for Parab.
Adv Narvekar said that such is the apathy of government authorities that despite the lawyers taking to streets protesting against the assault on Adv Sawant, not a single authority doesn’t even pay a cursory look on what is happening outside.
Citing an example of police brutality, Adv Phadte said one boy, a student activist, went to Mapusa police station a couple of years ago to pay a challan issued to his friend.
“He just questioned the reason why the challan was issued, he was not only thrashed, but also made to sit in the police station half naked. The case is now before the Human Rights Commission, a counter chargesheet is being filed against him in the Mapusa police station and he has to face the brunt,” he said.
He alleged that these policemen have the protection of their superiors, who embolden them to indulge in all the wrongdoings.
Despite the fact that there is a grievance redressal system available for the common man, it is clear that all these institutions seem to be toothless tigers. There is an urgent need to put the house in order by ushering in police reforms, otherwise more citizens could take to streets, which would be a serious law and order headache for the police. The police and the other authorities must not forget that no one is above the law.
