The Delhi High Court upheld a trial court's ruling that sentenced five Uttar Pradesh Police officers to ten years in prison for the custodial death of 26-year-old Sonu. Additionally, an inspector was sentenced to three years in prison for kidnapping Sonu in the same case. The court dismissed the officers' claim that Sonu died by suicide, citing significant discrepancies in the records and fabricated general diary entries.
The court found it implausible that Sonu could have committed suicide and sustained such injuries while being saved by trained police personnel, considering the injuries found on his body. The court emphasized that the conduct of the police officials who refused to acknowledge their presence after Sonu's arrest indicated that something was amiss at the police station during that time.
The court concluded that the police officers had special knowledge of what happened to Sonu after his abduction and arrest, and their failure to provide a believable explanation led to the presumption that they were responsible for his abduction, illegal detention, and death.
Sonu was apprehended by plainclothes policemen on September 1, 2006, and taken to Police Chowki Nithari in Sector 31, Noida, in a private vehicle. On September 2, at 3:25 AM, Sonu was lodged in the locker of Police Station Sector 20, Noida, as he was wanted for investigation in a robbery case.
The investigation revealed that the police officers committed atrocities against Sonu, leading to his suicide due to physical and mental stress at around 5:30 AM.
The case was transferred from Gautam Budh Nagar to Delhi by the Supreme Court, which believed that a fair trial would not be possible in Uttar Pradesh due to the accused being members of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
On March 14, 2019, sub-inspectors Hindveer Singh and Mahesh Mishra, along with constables Pradeep Kumar, Pushpender Kumar, and Haripal Singh, were convicted under Section 304 (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other sections, receiving ten years of imprisonment from the trial court. Inspector Kunwar Pal Singh was sentenced to three years in prison. Sub-inspector Vinod Kuma Pandey was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
After reviewing the case and the evidence, the High Court upheld the trial court's judgment. The court rejected a plea by Sonu's father to convert the convictions from Section 304 (death by negligence) to Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.
The court determined that the sequence of events and evidence indicated that Sonu was subjected to custodial torture, which was likely to cause his death, although without the intention to cause death. Therefore, the accused were found guilty of an offense punishable under Section 304 IPC Part I, resulting in a ten-year prison sentence.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal and a team of advocates represented the convicted policemen, while Sonu's father was represented by Advocates Divyesh Pratap Singh, Pratiksha Tripathi, Ajay, and Vikram Pratap Singh. The State of Uttar Pradesh was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Prithu Garg.
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TAGS: Delhi High Court trial court order Uttar Pradesh Police officers custodial death Sonu Division Bench imprisonment inspector kidnapping suicide discrepancies fabricated records injuries police personnel prosecution abduction illegal detention Gautam Budh Nagar Supreme Court Indian Penal Code investigation robbery case atrocities physical and mental stress transferred Section 304 Section 302 plea judgment senior advocate representation State of Uttar Pradesh Additional Public Prosecutor.
