Kasganj court orders FIR against SHO for illegal detention, forgery

Agra: A local court in Kasganj district of UP has directed registration of an FIR against the station house officer (SHO) of Sahawar police station after finding prima facie evidence of illegal detention and fabrication of police records.Chief judicial magistrate Khan Zeeshan Masood issued a three-page order against SHO Govind Ballabh Sharma on Saturday evening on a plea filed on April 30 by advocate Rajat Yadav, who alleged that his client, Sanjay Yadav, 28, was unlawfully confined at the police station before a formal case was registered against him.Details accessed by TOI revealed that Sanjay had been arrested on charges under sections 85 (cruelty), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insults meant to provoke a breach of peace) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of BNS following a complaint by his wife on April 24. She accused him of marrying another woman without her consent and claimed that he subjected her to mental and physical torture when she opposed.In his plea, Rajat alleged that police detained Sanjay on April 28 and held him for two days without allowing access to legal counsel, violating sections 35(3) and 38 of the BNSS.During proceedings, the court examined CCTV footage showing Sanjay inside the police station from April 28 afternoon until late April 29, despite there being no official record indicating that he had been formally detained during that period.The court also took note of Kasganj SP OP Singh’s report which corroborated the allegation of illegal detention. While examining police records, the court also found discrepancies in a general diary entry dated April 30 which falsely claimed Sanjay created a disturbance outside the police station. The SP’s report proved that no such event had taken place.Observing prima facie evidence of forgery, the court held that the matter warranted criminal investigation. The magistrate further noted that detaining an individual without serving mandatory notice violated BNSS section 35(3), while denial of access to counsel breached section 38 of BNSS.The court concluded that a cognisable offence appeared to have been committed and directed that an FIR be registered against the SHO. “Let FIR be filed under section 127 (2) (wrongful confinement), 336 (forgery), 337 (forgery of court record) and 344 (falsification of accounts) against inspector Govind Ballabh Sharma, SHO Sahawar,” the court stated in its order.Speaking to TOI, SP Singh confirmed receipt of the court orders and said, “Further action will be taken in accordance with the directions given by the court.”