Unhappy over the observations made by a Gwalior High Court judge during the hearing of an encounter case, a sub-divisional police officer threatened Justice G.S. Ahluwalia saying “it is an insult and I will 'see' you”.
The officer in question, B.P. Tiwari, is of deputy-superintendent rank posted as sub-divisional police officer (SDOP) at Karera in Shivpuri district. The police officer was present in court as officer-in-charge in a criminal review petition MCRC No 5394/2017 pertaining to an encounter case in 2006.
Justice Ahluwalia had observed in his order that “the unfortunate aspect is that right from very beginning, this court is observing that this case depicts a very sorry state of affairs and unbridled attitude of the police department towards the judiciary including Supreme Court”.
The police officer took offense to this comment and shouted at the judge. Tiwari was controlled by the advocates present in the court but he did not relent.
Later, taking a serious note of the incident and the scene created by SDOP, Justice Ahluwalia wrote in the order-sheet: “the attitude of B.P. Tiwari (SDOP), Karera was so furious and aggressive that the bar members immediately tried to pacify but he continued to shout in court and even pushed senior members of the bar. He also pushed the PSO of this court and continuously said that at present he is silent but he can take action”.
Justice Ahluwalia noted that this is conduct is a clear threat to the court. He wrote that the manner in which Tiwari was shouting was “contemptuous to the proceedings of this court and has not only lowered the dignity of the court but also hampered hearing”.
According to media reports, soon after the incident, the DIG of Police, Gwalior, and Superintendent of Police were summoned to the High Court. The two officers apologised to the court and the SDOP gave his apology in writing.
The High Court has decided to hear the matter today and take a decision on the apology submitted by the police officer.